by Bob Barr | Oct 23, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comThanks to today’s “Internet of Things” (IoT), there is an “automation” for almost every aspect of our lives. From such mundane if not downright silly things as kitchen faucets that activate on voice command, to the impressive — massive shipping warehouses run by robotics — many aspects of life today go beyond that imagined decades ago in science fiction. While we still are waiting for flying cars depicted in the Jetsons television show of the 1960s, or space hotels as portrayed in the sci-fi epic 2001, the array of technologically driven devices available to the average citizen is indeed impressive.Yet, while automation and artificial intelligence simplifies or altogether eliminates many of the activities of day-to-day life, the technology complicates others. For example, how do you program a self-driving car in an emergency situation to choose between the life of a pedestrian or that of its “driver?” Even more complex are questions now being asked in the context of judicial systems; decisions cutting to the heart of individual liberty. As a Forbes article propositioned, what does justice look like if, or rather when, many aspects of judicial procedures, such as sentencing, are left to computer algorithms?On the surface, injecting AI into certain legal procedures may appear to make sense for the same reasons it is used across other sectors of industry and professions. In many arenas, artificial intelligence can process information far faster than humans, even while incorporating astronomically more data; and doing so without “human error.” Leaving aside for the moment the question of whether all human “error” should be eliminated from decision-making, advocates for such technology would ask why wouldn’t we want to use AI in a...
by Bob Barr | Oct 22, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerEfforts by Democrats in the House of Representatives to wound, if not remove, President Trump from office illustrate what many of us realized long ago — the Democrats are street fighters who battle without regard for rules. Republicans (with few exceptions) prefer to play as gentlemen, according to “Marquess of Queensberry” rules. Thankfully, Trump is a master street fighter himself.I first became aware of this phenomenon in early 1995, the first year of my service in the House, and the first year in which the GOP enjoyed a majority since the 1950s. The occasion was a series of hearings to explore the manner by which the Clinton administration had conducted the raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas two years before.The raid was initially planned and carried out by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. However, the raid went horribly awry; a number of ATF agents and Branch Davidian members were shot. A lengthy standoff eventually involved the FBI and U.S. military equipment and advisers, as well as Texas Rangers and other agencies and personnel.It ended weeks later in a fiery conflagration sparked by tanks inserting flammable gas into the compound’s main building, in which some six dozen men, women, children and babies perished.The “Waco hearings” were the first major set of hearings conducted by the new Republican majority, and as a member of the Judiciary Committee subcommittee involved, I was a participant. Just prior to the start of the first day of the hearings, the subcommittee chairman convened a meeting of Republican members who would be participating in the questioning of witnesses....
by Bob Barr | Oct 16, 2019 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.comIf a college student today was asked on an exam to explain what a “Star Chamber” was, the answer would be far likelier to have something to do with the “Star Wars” saga than to include any reference to the notoriously corrupt system of secret judicial proceedings that prevailed in England from the late 15th Century through the mid-17th. However, if the student’s answer noted that the impeachment proceedings now being orchestrated in the House of Representatives by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team of inquisitors bore a clear resemblance to Star Chamber proceedings, you would have to give that student at least a passing grade.Students of British history would know as well that Star Chamber proceedings were conducted by Privy Counsellors and common-law judges according to arbitrary standards of “justice.” While such positions as Privy Counsellors are not found in 21st Century American government, the manner by which House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is proceeding in his effort to impeach President Trump, bears a striking resemblance to those British “jurists” of long ago. His colleague Jerry Nadler, who chairs the Judiciary Committee and also has targeted the President for removal, would fit the characterization just as nicely.As with the Star Chambers of old, Schiff has shown a clear preference for conducting the business of investigating a sitting president in secret. He is able to do this because the committee he chairs is charged with conducting essential oversight of the federal government’s sprawling Intelligence Community, and dealing with the often highly-classified information necessary to carry out that responsibility. The Committee, which was established in the late 1970s, never...
