Face Recognition Technology in the Courtroom: Legal challenges and defense strategies

Kaitlin Jackson Roll | The Bronx Defenders

Kaitlin is a supervising attorney at the Bronx Defenders, where she has worked for the last eight years. Prior to joining Bronx Defenders, she worked for three years as misdemeanor attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County.

She also spent two years as a Research Fellow for the National Registry of Exonerations (an organization that aims to provide accessible and comprehensive information about wrongful convictions). Her main research focus at the Registry was police & prosecutor misconduct. She presented her research findings at the Innocence Network Conference in both 2015 and 2016. She has contributed to numerous reports about wrongful convictions. She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

I. What is facial recognition? | 12:00pm – 12:20pm

II. Why do police use facial recognition? | 12:20pm – 12:40pm

• Identifying FRS Cases
• Frequency of use (and differences across jurisdictions)
• What don’t we know

III. How does facial recognition work? | 12:40pm – 1:00pm

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

IV. How accurate is facial recognition? | 1:10pm – 1:30pm

• Accuracy issues
• Editing concerns
• Demographic bias
• Changing faces

V. Why is facial recognition hard to challenge in court? | 1:30pm – 1:50pm

• Technology moves faster than the law can keep up
• The state isn’t trying to admit facial recognition

VI. What are practical steps defense attorneys can take? | 1:50pm – 2:10pm

• Discovery challenges
• Motion & hearing practice
• Thinking creatively!