LegisClear | Devpost

Inspiration

With advancements in AI that have disproportionately profiled Black lives and minorities, harms are amplified when legislation embeds these flawed technologies into law enforcement. Specifically, policies like California Proposition 25 are suggesting the use of computer-based algorithms to assess the risk of criminal suspects for trial.

However, the current environment of minimal discourse and coverage of local legislation means that the wider implications of such policy on incarceration are largely influenced by already heavily involved stakeholders in legislation. In other words, lobbying groups that have ulterior motives are the ones swaying these decisions though the harms are greatly felt by individuals, and oftentimes minorities.

The issue lies in the lack of engagement and transparency in legislation. With the verbosity and jargon surrounding policies as well as the hassle to synthesize information on legislator stances, it’s time-consuming for citizens with no prior experience with government or members of marginalized and suppressed groups to understand policies and express their opinion.

How do we address this?

The proposal is “LegisClear,” a mobile application that addresses low voter engagement and understanding of pending legislation. The solution increases transparency by introducing bills, streamlining understanding of the legislation with stance summaries in layman's terms, creating opportunities for immediate action through email and phone app integrations with script templates, and fostering community engagement through a centralized platform of latest outreach activity as well as social media integration. These functionalities demystify legislation while also enabling sustained individual involvement.

LegisClear allows members of traditionally underrepresented or under-engaged political groups to easily gather information about relevant current issues and where their own representatives in government stand, helping them know how to vote when Election Day comes. Single working mothers, members of ethnic minorities, and students and young adults who want to be more politically engaged, but have no idea how to vote will benefit from the streamlined information and opportunities to take direct action. We believe LegisClear is ideal for today's political climate, in which numerous social issues have recently come to the forefront of popular culture, driving so many to seek awareness on political matters. The social aspect of the app will allow political Instagram stories and Facebook posts to be curated in one place, so users can direct others to their LegisClear profile to see all their activism-related posts in one place and have relevant discourse. Furthermore, we envision availability in different languages, so those who are generally ignored in the political process because of language barriers can access necessary information. The community aspect of the app will also allow users to be recommended groups in their areas or related to their demographics, allowing local political organizers to easily reach them with event information and other opportunities to help.

The discourse around legislation won’t ever need to end. Through LegisClear, the decision of any bill will involve individual voters and extensive discourse around topics before a decision is made. Especially regarding legislation that can cause harmful and racially-biased computer algorithms to be embedded into law enforcement systems, increasing the accessibility of democratic involvement will allow more players and diverse voices to work against policies that exacerbate inequality.