BailWatch — Judicial Bias Audit System

Expose hidden bias in bail decisions. Upload a dataset. Receive an irrefutable verdict.

Google Solution Challenge 2026 · SDG 16.3 — Equal Access to Justice

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React + Vite
• Backend: Spring Boot (Java)
• ML Engine: Flask (Python)
• AI Explanations: Google Gemini API
• Database: PostgreSQL

Key Features

• Bias detection across income, location, legal representation, and social groups
• AI-generated explanations and recommendations
• CSV ingestion and audit workflows
• Historical audit tracking
• Exportable audit reports
• Interactive visualizations

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What It Does

BailWatch analyses bail court records and detects statistically significant disparities in bail outcomes across income level, legal representation, location, and social group. It uses Google Gemini AI to generate plain-English explanations, key findings, and concrete policy recommendations.

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Google Technologies

Technology	How Used
Gemini API (gemini-2.0-flash)	Generates audit explanations, key findings, recommendations, and SDG 16.3 relevance statements

Set EXPLANATION_ENGINE=gemini in .env with your GEMINI_API_KEY to enable. Defaults to a local rule-based engine if the key is absent or quota is exhausted (EXPLANATION_ENGINE=auto tries Gemini first, falls back automatically).

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Project Structure

bailwatch/ ├── frontend/ ← React + Vite (Port 5173) │ └── src/ │ ├── pages/ │ │ ├── AboutPage.jsx ← Landing page + SDG context (route: /) │ │ ├── UploadPage.jsx ← CSV upload + live stats (route: /audit) │ │ ├── ResultsPage.jsx ← Audit results + chart + export (route: /results) │ │ └── HistoryPage.jsx ← Past audits browser (route: /history) │ ├── components/ │ │ ├── BiasChart.jsx ← Canvas bar chart (no dependencies) │ │ ├── BiasMeter.jsx ← Animated ratio meter │ │ ├── BreakdownTable.jsx ← Full group breakdown table │ │ ├── VerdictStamp.jsx ← Animated verdict stamp │ │ ├── Navbar.jsx ← Navigation with SDG 16.3 label │ │ ├── LoadingOverlay.jsx │ │ └── Toast.jsx │ └── utils/ │ ├── biasUtils.js ← Shared helpers + fallback explainer │ └── exportReport.js ← JSON + TXT report export │ ├── src/main/java/com/bailwatch/ ← Spring Boot (Port 8080) │ ├── controller/ │ │ ├── AuditController.java ← /upload /run /stats /history │ │ ├── BailRecordController.java │ │ └── GlobalExceptionHandler.java │ ├── service/ │ │ ├── BiasAuditService.java ← Orchestrates Flask call │ │ └── CsvIngestionService.java ← CSV parsing + DB save │ ├── model/BailRecord.java │ ├── repository/BailRecordRepository.java │ └── dto/BiasResultDto.java ├── src/main/resources/application.properties ├── pom.xml │ ├── app.py ← Flask ML API (Port 5000) ├── bias_engine.py ← Disparity ratio engine ├── local_explainer.py ← Offline explanation engine ├── pipeline.py ← CSV cleaning + socialGroup mapping ├── requirements.txt │ ├── ARCHITECTURE.md ← System diagram + data flow ├── DEMO.md ← 2-minute demo script └── README.md

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Quick Start

1 — Database

CREATE DATABASE bailwatch;

2 — Flask ML API

pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env — add GEMINI_API_KEY if available
python app.py
# → http://localhost:5000

3 — Spring Boot

export DB_URL=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/bailwatch
export DB_USER=postgres
export DB_PASS=your_password
./mvnw spring-boot:run
# → http://localhost:8080

4 — Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev
# → http://localhost:5173

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API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/audit/upload	Upload CSV → returns datasetId
GET	/api/audit/run/{datasetId}	Run bias audit → returns full result
GET	/api/audit/stats	Live record counts for upload page
GET	/api/audit/history	All past audits, newest first

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Bias Dimensions

Feature	Groups Compared
Income Level	Low / Medium / High
Legal Representation	Yes / No
Location Type	Urban / Rural
Social / Ethnic Group	Religion / Ethnicity / Race (where available)

Severity Thresholds

Flag	Ratio	Meaning
HIGH	≥ 2.0×	Serious systemic bias — immediate action required
MODERATE	≥ 1.5×	Concerning disparity — monitoring and reform needed
LOW	< 1.5×	Within acceptable range

Sample Datasets

File	Jurisdiction	Records
bailwatch_india_final.csv	🇮🇳 India	2,000
bailwatch_uk_final.csv	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1,000
bailwatch_usa_final.csv	🇺🇸 United States	1,000

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BailWatch — BUILD 2.4.1 — Google Solution Challenge 2026 For research and accountability purposes only. Data is not legal advice.