Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

tampabay.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 231 posts

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#141

Post by 13415 »

sp332 wrote: post #136
LocalH wrote: post #121

>After she was fired, Jones started her own online COVID-19 dashboard. But she said Saturday that she may no longer be allowed access to computers, the internet or other electronic devices as a condition of her release from jail pending trial. In the modern day, with so much that is online or involving computers, this should be considered unjust punishment, the likes of which should be reserved only for child moleste…

If she were providing a bogus view of the pandemic, there could be consequences for public health. That doesn't seem to actually be the case as far as I can tell, but the magnitude of the punishment seems about right for the alleged crime.

I suppose you're being cynical or are joking. Literally millions of US citizens would have to be arrested if that was crime. AFAIK, she's being arrested for having accessed government databases after she had been fired, or something similar to that for which she was not fully authorized.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#142

Post by ineedasername »

jkhdigital wrote: post #57
ineedasername wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the whole point of this thing: You're pointing to Florida's numbers and assuming "no bungling". This person arrested is alleging that Florida has been fudging the numbers to make their situation look much better than it is.

"Fudging the numbers" is a vague accusation. If I arbitrarily add $1 to net profit on my company's annual report, then I've "cooked the books" but who cares. If you read the emails related to this case, it's clear that the behavior she describes as "fudging the numbers" has no material impact on Florida's Covid-19 reporting.

You're correct, but I'm not saying they definitely fudged the numbers, or what method they might have used. I'm saying the allegation is that they fudged them, and therefore you can't simply point to the official numbers to support the claim that they did not fudge them. The way to refute that claim is with transparency and addressing this woman's specific complaints.

Of course the state isn't really obligated to refute every claim made against them, but whether they do it don't, I'm only saying that the state is only denying her claim, snot actual evidence to support their counter claim of no manipulation of the data.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#143

Post by overscore »

trasz wrote: post #135
overscore wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raids are common in almost every European country - which in general have "normal" police forces - where the police believe someone might destroy evidence.

Only if the charges are heavy enough, and even then it usually happens in civilized way, not like SWAT.

It happens in Ireland all the time for personal amounts of drugs. They are generally unarmed raids unless it's a gangland case, though.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#144

Post by bitcurious »

There’s a lot of talk in this thread of whether Jones is a data scientist or not, but that talk is missing something crucial - it doesn’t take a data scientist to assemble basic reports about infection rates and mortality. Little to none of what differentiates “data scientist” from “data analyst” or “statistician” is involved in these reports. There is no massive data, no black-box modeling, really no new statistics at all - this stuff is well defined, except for the data itself.

The main choice points are around specific decisions with regards to how interpret messy data. Those decisions require domain expertise and a deep familiarity with how various public agencies in Florida work. Perhaps Jones has that expertise, perhaps she doesn’t. A title of “data scientists” doesn’t change that.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#145

Post by pjc50 »

sp332 wrote: post #136
LocalH wrote: post #121

>After she was fired, Jones started her own online COVID-19 dashboard. But she said Saturday that she may no longer be allowed access to computers, the internet or other electronic devices as a condition of her release from jail pending trial. In the modern day, with so much that is online or involving computers, this should be considered unjust punishment, the likes of which should be reserved only for child moleste…

If she were providing a bogus view of the pandemic, there could be consequences for public health. That doesn't seem to actually be the case as far as I can tell, but the magnitude of the punishment seems about right for the alleged crime.

Providing a bogus view of the pandemic is mainstream US politics. You only get this kind of repressive treatment if you've embarrased the government, in this case the state of Florida.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#146

Post by snypher »

LocalH wrote: post #121

>After she was fired, Jones started her own online COVID-19 dashboard. But she said Saturday that she may no longer be allowed access to computers, the internet or other electronic devices as a condition of her release from jail pending trial. In the modern day, with so much that is online or involving computers, this should be considered unjust punishment, the likes of which should be reserved only for child moleste…

As a condition of pretrial release for a presumed innocent party, even _accused_ child molesters should have access to a computer.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#147

Post by yanderekko »

joering2 wrote: post #134
plussed_reader wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your chosen terminology is a little strange to me(weird); would you by chance be an American? This is a textbook example of the Government(State of Florida) targeting an individual for their speech. But then again, Do-Nothing DeSantis is the successor to Senator Red Tide Rick. Par for the course with Florida, sadly.

+1. Also for that raid alone where public saw SWAT team members putting machine guns in her children faces, she most likely will settle and get $10MM+ settlement in less than 10 years. Of course our taxpayers money. DegenerateSantis will be then on his next high paid gig. Watch and see.

>Also for that raid alone where public saw SWAT team members putting machine guns in her children faces

Uhh what? The only video I've seen has an officer walking around with a handgun drawn and pointing it as he moves around her house, and at one point he aims it upstairs where her kids are.

How does this get telephone-gamed into "SWAT team members putting machine guns in her children faces"?? Is there some other video I haven't seen?

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#148

Post by yanderekko »

SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #66
koolba wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having cops invade her home and hold her children at gunpoint didn’t scare her into becoming his scapegoat, so it’s important to escalate the campaign of violence against her. You make it sound like the police broke into her home and deliberately pointed weapons at her children. That’s completely bullshit. The police had a warrant signed by a judge. They repeatedly asked her to open the door, she refused. This went…

The cops aren’t wild animals. They should have the ability to figure out whether or not a web developer/data scientist at home with warrants for nonviolent allegations is worth drawing a gun in a house with children in it. We need to hold cops to a higher standard of behavior.

Be that as it may, spinning the story as involving the cops "holding her children at gunpoint" is a wild distortion and indicates the low quality of discussion that this issue has generated.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#150

Post by yanderekko »

bitexploder wrote: post #52
koolba wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having cops invade her home and hold her children at gunpoint didn’t scare her into becoming his scapegoat, so it’s important to escalate the campaign of violence against her. You make it sound like the police broke into her home and deliberately pointed weapons at her children. That’s completely bullshit. The police had a warrant signed by a judge. They repeatedly asked her to open the door, she refused. This went…

She didn’t know if she was being arrested and was in pajamas. I’ve read of other famous people being given plenty of time (in FL) to get ready before a search warrant is executed. Considering what we know about Florida and what is happening there with COVID and it’s reporting, I am willing to give her the benefit of doubt. Plus the pretext of the warrant is bad. “Cops just doing their job” doesn’t matter when it is a…

>I’ve read of other famous people being given plenty of time (in FL)

I wouldn't call it an injustice that she wasn't granted some sort of special treatment that's normally reserved for "famous people".

Post reply on HN