Graduate student Joshua Alele-Beals (computer science) will present a master’s final oral examination (defense) on Thursday, November 21, at 1 pm in Rekhi 101. The title of the defense is “Exploring consequences of statutory law through lightweight modeling.”
Defense Abstract
This thesis describes the design, implementation, and use of the Expungement Eligibility Checker, a novel tool designed to help citizens and legal professionals interpret expungement laws. Using Michigan’s Clean Slate Law as a case study, the tool leverages the computational modeling capabilities of the Alloy language to uncover hidden assumptions and potential legal outcomes. The Expungement Eligibility Checker enables an individual to determine which of their convictions qualify for expungement and provides rationale for those that do not. This work is the first of a number of planned “digital sandbox” applications designed to encourage exploration and learning in statutory law and similar rule-based systems.