When A System Upgrade Gets You Arrested

People's jobs and freedom are being jeopardised by the roll-out of new software by California's courts.


Take the example of Andrew.
It was Saturday and he was woken up with a start by his mother. There were four officers at the front door and he was about to be arrested.

"I’d only had four hours sleep and I’m only wearing gym shorts,” he recalled.
“I’m thinking, what happened? I was completely confused.”
Unbeknown to his parents, 24-year-old Andrew - not his real name - had recently finished a six-month drug programme after he was caught in possession of marijuana and ecstasy.
Which is why he was so confused. It was his first offence and he had done the course as asked. A judge had then told him the case had been dismissed.
“I did what I was supposed to."
But the court’s new computer system had other ideas and Andrew was put into a police car and driven off to jail.