Measures for Justice Helps the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Make Better Data a Reality
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is part of a national program to increase prosecutor data transparency and accountability.
(Miami Dade, FL) May 23, 2024 – Measures for Justice (MFJ), in partnership with the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA), has just completed work with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office (SAO) to help improve their data as a basis for better decision-making. The project helped the office assess the quality of their data infrastructure and practices and take steps to improve them. The work is part of the Tableau Foundation’s Racial Justice Data Initiative, now part of the Salesforce Foundation.
Measures for Justice is a nonpartisan nonprofit that develops data tools and services that help communities reshape the criminal justice system. The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys supports prosecutors to create safer communities through a more just and equitable legal system.
“MFJ provided us with the support and expertise we needed to better understand our data integrity, determine what’s working, and identify opportunities for change,” says Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade County State Attorney. “They carefully reviewed our systems and provided their insights, ultimately agreeing with us that it was time to implement newer, more modern systems to better manage and analyze our cases. With funding from the County, we hope to move forward with these changes in the next year or two.”
In addition to Miami-Dade County, Measures for Justice, with APA’s support, is currently implementing or has completed, data readiness work for public platforms in:
- Dallas County, TX
- Contra Costa County, CA
- Davidson County, TN
- Norfolk, VA
- Fairfax, VA
- Ramsey County, MN
- East Baton Rouge Parish, LA
- Jackson County, MO
Data readiness work can prepare offices to share their data with the public. Measures for Justice offers a suite of tools and services that help communities get to full data transparency, among them Commons, a community-driven data platform that makes data available and helps communities shape criminal justice policy based on that data.
Following their data assessment work, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, launched a Commons in October 2023. Jackson County, MO, plans to launch a Commons in 2024.
“We are so proud to see nine jurisdictions across the country, including Miami-Dade County, demonstrate their willingness to help make good data the centerpiece for better decision-making in the criminal justice system,” says Amy Bach, CEO and Founder of Measures for Justice.
“APA’s robust network of prosecutors’ offices prosecute a large share of the nation’s crime,” said David LaBahn, President and CEO of the APA. “In working with these offices to move toward data transparency, we are supporting policies and practices that will help build the trust and legitimacy of prosecutors.
The partnership between MFJ and APA was formed as part of the Tableau Foundation’s Racial Justice Data Initiative, a $12 million, three-year commitment to build the data capacity of national, regional, and community-based organizations working to fight anti-Black racism and to democratize access to racial justice data that advocates need to push for change at the local level. Now part of the Salesforce Foundation, their support allows prosecutors’ offices to more easily make their data publicly accessible to local constituents.
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About Measures for Justice
Measures for Justice is leading a movement to change the future of criminal justice by developing tools that help communities and the institutions that serve them reshape how the system works. Since 2011, Measures for Justice has worked with communities, courts, prosecutors, and police to shine a light on what criminal justice looks like nationwide; collaborated to standardize and improve criminal justice data nationwide; and created tools, provided services, and led research to help create a criminal justice system that is fully transparent, accessible, and accountable.
