Supreme Court Justices Apply New Ethics Code Differently; News week, April 9, 2024

 Khaleda Rahman, Newsweek; Supreme Court Justices Apply New Ethics Code Differently

"Supreme Court justices are divided along political lines over whether or not to explain their recusals, and legal experts are very concerned."

Your newsroom needs an AI ethics policy. Start here.; Poynter, March 25, 2024

Kelly McBride , Poynter; Your newsroom needs an AI ethics policy. Start here.

"Every single newsroom needs to adopt an ethics policy to guide the use of generative artificial intelligence. Why? Because the only way to create ethical standards in an unlicensed profession is to do it shop by shop.

Until we create those standards — even though it’s early in the game — we are holding back innovation.

So here’s a starter kit, created by Poynter’s Alex Mahadevan, Tony Elkins and me. It’s a statement of journalism values that roots AI experimentation in the principles of accuracy, transparency and audience trust, followed by a set of specific guidelines.

Think of it like a meal prep kit. Most of the work is done, but you still have to roll up your sleeves and do a bit of labor. This policy includes blank spaces, where newsroom leaders will have to add details, saying “yes” or “no” to very specific activities, like using AI-generated illustrations.

In order to effectively use this AI ethics policy, newsrooms will need to create an AI committee and designate an editor or senior journalist to lead the ongoing effort. This step is critical because the technology is going to evolve, the tools are going to multiply and the policy will not keep up unless it is routinely revised."

IT body proposes that AI pros get leashed and licensed to uphold ethics; The Register, February 15, 2024

Paul Kunert, The Register; IT body proposes that AI pros get leashed and licensed to uphold ethics

"Creating a register of licensed AI professionals to uphold ethical standards and securing whistleblowing channels to call out bad management are two policies that could prevent a Post Office-style scandal.

So says industry body BCS – formerly the British Computer Society – which reckons licenses based on an independent framework of ethics would promote transparency among software engineers and their bosses.

"We have a register of doctors who can be struck off," said Rashik Parmar MBE, CEO at BCS. "AI professionals already have a big role in our life chances, so why shouldn't they be licensed and registered too?"...

The importance of AI ethics was amplified by the Post Office scandal, says the BCS boss, "where computer generated evidence was used by non-IT specialists to prosecute sub postmasters with tragic results."

For anyone not aware of the outrageous wrongdoing committed by the Post Office, it bought the bug-ridden Horizon accounting system in 1999 from ICL, a company that was subsequently bought by Fujitsu. Hundreds of local Post Office branch managers were subsequently wrongfully convicted of fraud when Horizon was to blame."

Addressing equity and ethics in artificial intelligence; American Psychological Association, January 8, 2024

 Zara Abrams, American Psychological Association; Addressing equity and ethics in artificial intelligence

"As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly permeates our world, researchers and policymakers are scrambling to stay one step ahead. What are the potential harms of these new tools—and how can they be avoided?

“With any new technology, we always need to be thinking about what’s coming next. But AI is moving so fast that it’s difficult to grasp how significantly it’s going to change things,” said David Luxton, PhD, a clinical psychologist and an affiliate professor at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine who is part of a session at the upcoming 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Harnessing the Power of AI Ethically.

Luxton and his colleagues dubbed recent AI advances “super-disruptive technology” because of their potential to profoundly alter society in unexpected ways. In addition to concerns about job displacement and manipulation, AI tools can cause unintended harm to individuals, relationships, and groups. Biased algorithms can promote discrimination or other forms of inaccurate decision-making that can cause systematic and potentially harmful errors; unequal access to AI can exacerbate inequality (Proceedings of the Stanford Existential Risk Conference 2023, 60–74). On the flip side, AI may also hold the potential to reduce unfairness in today’s world—if people can agree on what “fairness” means.

“There’s a lot of pushback against AI because it can promote bias, but humans have been promoting biases for a really long time,” said psychologist Rhoda Au, PhD, a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine who is also speaking at CES on harnessing AI ethically. “We can’t just be dismissive and say: ‘AI is good’ or ‘AI is bad.’ We need to embrace its complexity and understand that it’s going to be both.”"

Big Tech funds the very people who are supposed to hold it accountable; The Washington Post, December 7, 2023

Joseph Menn

 and 

Naomi Nix

, The Washington Post; Big Tech funds the very people who are supposed to hold it accountable

"“Big Tech has played this game really successfully in the past decade,” said Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor who previously founded Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society without raising money outside the university. “The number of academics who have been paid by Facebook alone is extraordinary.”

Most tech-focused academics say their work is not influenced by the companies, and the journals that publish their studies have ethics rules designed to ward off egregious interference. But in interviews, two dozen professors said that by controlling funding and access to data, tech companies wield “soft power,” slowing down research, sparking tension between academics and their institutions, and shifting the fields’ targets in small — but potentially transformative — ways...

Harvard’s Lessig, who spent years heading a center on ethics issues in society at the university, is developing a system for academics to verify that their research is truly independent. He hopes to present the initiative, the Academic Integrity Project, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He is still looking for funding."

Why the Supreme Court’s wasted time on ethics may cost it; CNN, November 1, 2023

Joan Biskupic, CNN; Why the Supreme Court’s wasted time on ethics may cost it

"Supreme Court justices, who have infinite power over American lives, have continually resisted calls for greater accountability in a formal code of conduct.

Some justices recently signaled that they might be ready to adopt a binding ethics code. But their record of inaction reflects the difficulty of compromise among the nine and suggests any real change may not come at their own hand.

The delay has had consequences.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats plan to authorize subpoenas for three wealthy conservatives, including real estate magnate Harlan Crow, who has provided luxury travel and other gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas."

Biden plans to step up government oversight of AI with new 'pressure tests'; NPR, October 30, 2023

 Deepa Shivaram, NPR; Biden plans to step up government oversight of AI with new 'pressure tests'

"President Biden on Monday will take sweeping executive action to try to establish oversight of the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence sector, setting new standards for safety tests for AI products – as well as a system for federal "pressure tests" of major systems, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told NPR.

Months in the making, the executive order reflects White House concerns that the technology, left unchecked, could pose significant risks to national security, the economy, public health and privacy. The announcement comes just days ahead of a major global summit on AI taking place in London, which Vice President Harris will attend."

How industry experts are navigating the ethics of artificial intelligence; CNN, September 11, 2023

CNN; How industry experts are navigating the ethics of artificial intelligence

"CNN heads to one of the longest-running artificial intelligence conferences in the world, to explore how industry experts and tech companies are trying to develop AI that is fairer and more transparent."

Who owns your cells? Legacy of Henrietta Lacks raises ethical questions about profits from medical research; Cleveland.com, August 18, 2023

Gretchen Cuda Kroen, cleveland.com; Who owns your cells? Legacy of Henrietta Lacks raises ethical questions about profits from medical research

"While the legal victory may have given the family some closure, it has raised concerns for bioethicists in Cleveland and elsewhere.

The case raises important questions about owning one’s own body; whether individuals are entitled to a share of the profits from medical discoveries derived from research on their own cells, organs and genetic material.

But it also offers a tremendous opportunity to not only acknowledge the ethical failures of the past and the seeds of mistrust they have sown, but to guide society toward building better, more trustworthy medical institutions, said Aaron Goldenberg, who directs the Bioethics Center for Community Health and Genomic Equity (CHANGE) at Case Western Reserve University."

Report on Anti-Gay Slur Could Put Local News Site Out of Business; The New York Times , August 15, 2023

Jeremy W. Peters  , The New York Times; Report on Anti-Gay Slur Could Put Local News Site Out of Business

"Some First Amendment advocates said the playbook was relatively easy to replicate: A public official unhappy with the coverage sues, creating crushing costs for an outlet."

Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel; ProPublica, August 10, 2023

 Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica; Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel

"This accounting of Thomas’ travel, revealed for the first time here from an array of previously unavailable information, is the fullest to date of the generosity that has regularly afforded Thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income could provide. And it is almost certainly an undercount.

While some of the hospitality, such as stays in personal homes, may not have required disclosure, Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises and expensive sports tickets, according to ethics experts.

Perhaps even more significant, the pattern exposes consistent violations of judicial norms, experts, including seven current and former federal judges appointed by both parties, told ProPublica. “In my career I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge who served for years on the judicial committee that reviews judges’ financial disclosures. “I think it’s unprecedented.”"

Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel

Why the Trump trial should be televised; The Washington Post, August 3, 2023

 Neal Katyal , The Washington Post; Why the Trump trial should be televised

"The upcoming trial of United States v. Donald J. Trump will rank with Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education and Dred Scott v. Sandford as a defining moment for our history and our values as a people. And yet, federal law will prevent all but a handful of Americans from actually seeing what is happening in the trial. We will be relegated to perusing cold transcripts and secondhand descriptions. The law must be changed...

Most important, live (or near-live) broadcasting lets Americans see for themselves what is happening in the courtroom and would go a long way toward reassuring them that justice is being done. They would be less vulnerable to the distortions and misrepresentations that will inevitably be part of the highly charged, politicized discussion flooding the country as the trial plays out. Justice Louis Brandeis’s observation that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” is absolutely apt here."

A More Ethical Approach to Employing Contractors; Harvard Business Review, August 2, 2023

 Catherine Bracy, Harvard Business Review; A More Ethical Approach to Employing Contractors

"Companies that do not adopt high-road contracting practices create a race to the bottom, degrading job quality and career mobility. Enacting high-road practices, and requiring them of any vendor your company works with, helps mitigate the potential for worker harm in the first place which helps reduce future liability and risk."

The Guardian’s editorial code has been updated – here’s what to expect; The Guardian, July 27, 2023

 Elisabeth Ribbans, The Guardian; The Guardian’s editorial code has been updated – here’s what to expect

"Much has changed since 2011 – at the Guardian, in the way society shares information and opinions, and in the world at large. The updates reflect this. But as “the embodiment of the Guardian’s values”, which is how the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, described the code in an email to staff today, the standards by which journalists agree to be held accountable, while geared (as far as possible) to the modern environment, seek to maintain something immutable: trust."

Editorial: The Supreme Court has ignored ethics oversight. Time for Congress to act; Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2023

THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD , Los Angeles Times; Editorial: The Supreme Court has ignored ethics oversight. Time for Congress to act

"Congress must begin the process of enacting reforms that the court itself has refused to undertake."

Surprise, you just signed a contract! How hidden contracts took over the internet; Planet Money, NPR, July 14, 2023

 Emma Peaslee, Jeff Guo, Jess Jiang, James Sneed, Planet Money, NPR; Surprise, you just signed a contract! How hidden contracts took over the internet

"When you make an account online or install an app, you are probably entering into a legally enforceable contract. Even if you never signed anything. These days, we enter into these contracts so often, it can feel like no big deal."

A Federal Judge Asks: Does the Supreme Court Realize How Bad It Smells?; The New York Times, July 14, 2023

Michael Ponsor, The New York Times ; A Federal Judge Asks: Does the Supreme Court Realize How Bad It Smells?

"All my judicial colleagues, whoever has appointed them, run into situations like these regularly, and I expect they have responded in just the same way. You don’t just stay inside the lines; you stay well inside the lines. This is not a matter of politics or judicial philosophy. It is ethics in the trenches.

The recent descriptions of the behavior of some of our justices and particularly their attempts to defend their conduct have not just raised my eyebrows; they’ve raised the whole top of my head. Lavish, no-cost vacations? Hypertechnical arguments about how a free private airplane flight is a kind of facility? A justice’s spouse prominently involved in advocating on issues before the court without the justice’s recusal? Repeated omissions in mandatory financial disclosure statements brushed under the rug as inadvertent? A justice’s taxpayer-financed staff reportedly helping to promote her books? Private school tuition for a justice’s family member covered by a wealthy benefactor? Wow.

Although the exact numbers fluctuate because of vacancies, the core of our federal judiciary comprises roughly 540 magistrate judges, 670 district judges, 180 appeals court judges and nine Supreme Court justices — fewer than 1,500 men and women in a country of more than 330 million people and 3.8 million square miles. Much depends on this small cohort’s acute sense of smell, its instinctive, uncompromising integrity and its appearance of integrity. If reports are true, some of our justices are, sadly, letting us down."

Inside the AP’s investigation into the ethics practices of the Supreme Court justices; AP, July 11, 2023

ERIC TUCKER AND BRIAN SLODYSKO, AP ; Inside the AP’s investigation into the ethics practices of the Supreme Court justices

"An Associated Press examination of the ethics practices of the U.S. Supreme Court relied on documents obtained from more than 100 public records requests to public colleges, universities and other institutions that have hosted the justices over the past decade.

Here’s a look at how the reporting was done:...

Some institutions were less forthcoming. The AP went to the Illinois state attorney general to get a binding opinion directing the Chicago Public Library to produce documents related to a visit by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Other schools, including the University of Arizona, have said their search for records remained ongoing after more than six months.

The AP did pay some schools for documents, including $350 to the University of Utah; $140 to Michigan State University; $159.24 to the University of Minnesota; and roughly $150 to the University of Mississippi.

But some schools responded to records requests with fee demands that the AP deemed unreasonable. The initial fee cited by the University of Georgia for processing two requests was $18,800.50, though it was later reduced after the AP narrowed its request."

Supreme Court stands by its guidelines after report raises new ethics questions; CNN, July 11, 2011

Ariane de Vogue, CNN; Supreme Court stands by its guidelines after report raises new ethics questions

"Gabe Roth, executive director of a group called Fix the Court, which advocates for more transparency at the court, said in a statement that the rules for Sotomayor appear different than rules that for other branches of government.

“A member of Congress would never be able to use her office to hawk her book,” Roth said. He noted that the AP story, unlike other recent reports focused on Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, focuses on a liberal justice demonstrating that the court’s “ethical lapses stretch across partisan lines and that conservative and liberal justices alike need to clean up their act.”"

Where Clarence Thomas Entered an Elite Circle and Opened a Door to the Court; The New York Times, July 9, 2023

 Abbie VanSickle and Steve Eder, The New York Times; Where Clarence Thomas Entered an Elite Circle and Opened a Door to the Court

"In recent months, Justice Thomas has faced scrutiny over new revelations by ProPublica of his relationship to Harlan Crow, the Texas billionaire, whose largess over more than two decades has included vacations on a superyacht, private school tuition for the great-nephew the justice was raising, and the purchase of his mother’s Savannah, Ga., home. None of this was reported by the justice, and the revelations have renewed calls for tighter Supreme Court ethics rules.

But a look at his tenure at the Horatio Alger Association, based on more than two dozen interviews and a review of public filings and internal documents, shows that Justice Thomas has received benefits — many of them previously unreported — from a broader cohort of wealthy and powerful friends. They have included major donors to conservative causes with broad policy and political interests and much at stake in Supreme Court decisions, even if they were not directly involved in the cases.

Justice Thomas declined to respond to detailed questions from The New York Times."