3 - Quantifying Criminal Procedure

Summary

Chapter 3 examines the challenges of applying the cost–benefit analysis theory given the current legal stanrads used by courts. The cost–benefit analysis theory requires quantified costs and benefits, while the current legal system uses broad, descriptive standards to evaluate searches. The chapter notes that the current legal standards are inconsistently applied, and thus provide inadequate guidance to police who are attempting to follow these standards. The chapter also points out a dissonance between how judges apply the current standards and how lay people believe the standards should be applied. The solution is to quantify the legal standards, thus making the standards more transparent, allowing for a greater range of standards, and allowing the judges to use data from predictive algorithms as formal factors in deciding whether to allow a certain type of surveillance. This will also allow courts and policymakers to use the cost–benefit analysis theory more accurately and efficiently.