FOIA Request - DOJ, Civil Rights Division - Case Priorization

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552. I hereby request the following records:

All records within the jurisdiction of the DOJ, Civil Rights Division within the time frame of 2020 to 2023 (meaning it is still currently used within that time frame), to be the day on which this request is processed, with respect to the following criterion or criteria:

Please list the artificial intelligence algorithm(s) that prioritizes complaints filed with the DOJ, Civil Rights Division. It is to a subtle degree hinted at here implicitly: https://www.justice.gov/open/page/file/1517316/download by Monique Bourque (DOJ, JMD), though the pdf appears undated. See (1) for more information.

1. Records/documents that describe and detail the artificial intelligence algorithms within the DOJ, Civil Rights Division uses to prioritize cases among its Civil Rights Division. It should include: the objectives and metrics defined (stated in other words, parameters of importance, see below), how historical data on previous complaints is collected and what preprocessing occurs, how the model was trained precisely and what model (ie, algorithm) specifically was selected (e.g., Random Forests) and what parameters were used here or in terms of optimization of the model, how the model was optimized, how it was deployed, and lastly how it was monitored and updated over time in terms of gathering more data or retraining the dataset collected or modifying the parameters.

For example, a law firm could utilize a machine learning algorithm to help sort and prioritize based on specific parameters such as:

Potential for financial return
The strength of the evidence
Case complexity
The alignment of the case with the firm's area of expertise
The urgency of the client's needs
Impact on the firm's reputation

In this case an ensemble method such as Random Forests may be beneficial.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

I would also appreciate an approximate time frame for this request to be processed. Depending of the time frame for the request to be fulfilled and any fees that may be incurred, I may revise the criteria.

If you deny any part of this request, please cite each specific exemption you think justifies your refusal to release the information and notify me of appeal procedures available under the law.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statue requires.

Sincerely,

Bailey Pillon

Hi there,

Thank you for the update. I will be looking forward to it. I understand your FOIA requests are quite numerous, and I appreciate your thoroughness in fulfilling my request in the future.

Thank you,
Bailey Pillon