{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-04T09:47:24.993Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"audit","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"contextual","evidence":"","year":"2024","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":1,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":3,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2024-dallas-georgia-police-911-director-flock-alpr-searches-estranged-husband-and-partner-arrested","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'searched more than 2,500 times for cars belonging to her estranged husband and his new girlfriend'; 'almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025'; 'as many as 39 times in one day, sometimes just seconds apart'; 'More than half her searches of those cars occurred between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'had accessed the system up to 1,200 times for non-law enforcement purposes, with some searches allegedly involving her former spouse'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs found that the director used Flock to look up the license plates of her estranged husband and his new girlfriend almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025, more than 2,500 times in all and as many as 39 times in one day, with more than half of the searches made between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.","causal_attribution":"USA TODAY's own analysis of audit logs. The GBI figure relayed from 11Alive (up to 1,200 accesses) differs; the GBI release itself gives no count. Not independently confirmed."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'repeatedly showed up unannounced at the restaurants where they ate'; 'even at the rural, 100-acre Alabama property they regularly visit'; 'I think she wanted us to know she was there.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The husband and his girlfriend told USA TODAY that in the months after the couple separated, the director repeatedly showed up unannounced at restaurants where they ate, at the hospital where the girlfriend works and at a rural Alabama property they regularly visit.","causal_attribution":"The couple's own account to USA TODAY; the director did not respond. The link between the searches and the appearances is the couple's inference."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'said she fears for her safety'; 'She filed a petition for a restraining order against'; 'on Aug. 20, court records show, citing her frequent Flock searches'; 'It’s an invasion of privacy'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The girlfriend said she fears for her safety and, according to court records, filed a petition for a restraining order against the director on 20 August 2026, citing her frequent Flock searches; the husband called the searches an invasion of privacy.","causal_attribution":"The couple's statements and USA TODAY's reading of court records, which were not inspected."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'requested the GBI to investigate allegations of misuse of the Dallas Police Department Flock Safety System'; 'accessed the Flock Safety System between 2024 and 2025 for non-law enforcement purposes'; 'with two misdemeanor counts of Misuse of a License Plate Reader System'; 'was booked into the Paulding County Jail'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'on two misdemeanor counts of misusing a license plate reader'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On 7 July 2026 the Dallas Police Department asked the GBI to investigate allegations of misuse of its Flock Safety system; preliminary information indicated that the 911 director had accessed the system between 2024 and 2025 for non-law enforcement purposes. The GBI arrested her on 12 August 2026 on two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system and booked her into the Paulding County Jail.","causal_attribution":"The GBI's release; USA TODAY reports the same arrest and charges. Charges are allegations."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'USA TODAY contacted the Dallas Police Department about'; 'asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate her the next day'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'On July 7, 2026, the Dallas Police Department requested the GBI'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"USA TODAY contacted the Dallas Police Department about the director's Flock activity on 6 July 2026, and the department asked the GBI to investigate her the next day.","causal_attribution":"USA TODAY's account of its own inquiry; the GBI release gives the 7 July request date."}],"effects":[{"label":"the couple's cars searched more than 2,500 times in the police Flock system by the husband's estranged wife, a police 911 director","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the couple say she repeatedly showed up unannounced where they were","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the girlfriend fears for her safety and has petitioned for a restraining order","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/28/flock-camera-investigation-police-arrested-fired-surveillance/91383586007/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 from the eu.usatoday.com edition of the same article (the www host answered 402). USA TODAY's own analysis of Flock audit logs, interviews with the husband and his girlfriend, court records and the director's personnel file.","independence_group":"usat-flock-investigation"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://gbi.georgia.gov/press-releases/2026-08-12/gbi-arrests-former-911-director-paulding-county-misuse-license-plate","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live). The GBI's arrest release; it names the charges and the department's request but not the people searched.","independence_group":"gbi-2026-08-12"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/another-person-caught-using-flock-192101856.html","kind":"news_relay","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live; Mandatory on Yahoo News, 17 August 2026). Relays 11Alive's report of the GBI's account (11Alive answered 403 and was not read). The page's automated key-takeaways box was not used.","independence_group":"gbi-2026-08-12"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["The exact number of searches (USA TODAY: more than 2,500; the GBI via 11Alive: up to 1,200).","Whether the restraining order was granted.","Whether the director has been charged in court and any outcome."],"geography":{"basis":"The director worked for the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County, Georgia, whose Flock system she searched; the GBI arrested her and booked her into the Paulding County Jail (GBI release). The couple's residence is not stated; affected_person_countries US rests on their cars being searched in the Georgia department's system and on the places named in USA TODAY (restaurants, a hospital and an Alabama property). The case is in Georgia.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy and safety case, consistent with the held Flock officer-misuse rows: the GBI arrested a police 911 director for misusing the department's Flock license-plate-reader system, and USA TODAY's analysis and interviews describe the two people whose cars she searched and the effects they report. The automated readers generated the plate-read records; the misuse is recorded as a human act. The director and the couple are not named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The GBI says the director accessed the Dallas Police Department's Flock Safety system for non-law enforcement purposes, and USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs found her repeated searches of the couple's license plates. USA TODAY describes the Flock system as photographing passing cars and uploading the plate number, make, model, color and other characteristics to an online database. The plate-read records about the couple's cars were the system's output; the searches are recorded as the director's own acts. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Dallas, Georgia: a police department's 911 director is accused of using its Flock license-plate-reader system to track her estranged husband and his new partner almost daily from July 2024 to May 2025; the GBI arrested her in August 2026","summary":"The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested the former 911 director of the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County, Georgia, on 12 August 2026 on two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system, after the department asked it on 7 July to investigate misuse of the department's Flock Safety system between 2024 and 2025. A USA TODAY analysis of Flock audit logs found that she had searched more than 2,500 times for the cars of her estranged husband and his new girlfriend, almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025 and as many as 39 times in one day. The couple told USA TODAY that in the months after the separation she repeatedly showed up unannounced at restaurants where they ate, at the hospital where the girlfriend works and at a rural Alabama property they visit. The girlfriend said she fears for her safety and, according to court records, filed a petition for a restraining order on 20 August citing the Flock searches. USA TODAY had contacted the department about the searches on 6 July. The charges are allegations.","incidentDate":"2024-07-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-05-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-12","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system of the Dallas (Georgia) Police Department, searched by its 911 director (GBI release; USA TODAY analysis of Flock audit logs)","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs, the couple's cars were searched more than 2,500 times over about ten months by the husband's estranged wife, a police 911 director; they say she repeatedly appeared where they were, and the girlfriend says she fears for her safety and has sought a restraining order. The director is charged with misuse of a license plate reader system.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people, the director's estranged husband and his new girlfriend, whose cars USA TODAY's analysis found she searched and who described the effects to USA TODAY. Exact 2.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-GA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/28/flock-camera-investigation-police-arrested-fired-surveillance/91383586007/","primarySourceLabel":"USA TODAY, 28 August 2026: Our Flock camera investigation sparks police firings, arrests","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:30:13.936939+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:30:13.936939+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","estranged-spouse","georgia","dallas-georgia","paulding-county","gbi","usa-today-investigation","restraining-order","made-claim-about"]},{"id":"2024-lufkin-texas-police-officer-flock-alpr-tracked-ex-girlfriend-sentenced-five-years","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'used a Flock license plate reader more than 10,000 times to track an ex-girlfriend, her family members and people she had relationships with, according to an arrest affidavit.'; 'The suspected unauthorized searches ranged from June 2024 to December 2025, according to the affidavit.'; 'Her license plate had been searched more than 10,000 times.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'on dozens of occasions from July 2024 through December 2025'; 'to track vehicles belonging to 11 people.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to the arrest affidavit, a Lufkin police officer used the department's Flock license-plate-reader system more than 10,000 times to track an ex-girlfriend, her family members and people she had relationships with, in searches from June 2024 to December 2025; her plate alone was searched more than 10,000 times. The indictment, as reported, alleged he located vehicles belonging to 11 people on dozens of occasions from July 2024 through December 2025.","causal_attribution":"Arrest-affidavit and indictment allegations, later resolved by a guilty plea to misuse of official information."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'for over 25,000 license plate inquiries for non-law enforcement purposes with about 18,000 of those being for license plates associated with three people'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'About 18,000 of those inquiries were tied to license plates associated with three people.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'vehicle registration data for his former girlfriend, her family members, and individuals she had dated in the past and after their relationship ended.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The District Attorney's office says a Texas Rangers investigation found more than 25,000 license-plate inquiries on Flock for purposes unrelated to law enforcement, about 18,000 of them on plates associated with three people: the officer's former dating partner, her family members and people she has dated.","causal_attribution":"Prosecutor's account of the Rangers investigation."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'behavior prosecutors said continued after the relationship ended through his use of Flock and other law enforcement databases.'; 'lifetime protective order with an underlying basis of stalking for his former dating partner.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'coercive control in his previous dating relationship'; 'agreed to the issuance of a lifetime protective order on the basis of stalking for his former dating partner.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The District Attorney's office says interviews showed the officer used coercive control in the previous dating relationship and continued it after the relationship ended through Flock and other law-enforcement databases; he agreed to a lifetime protective order for his former dating partner on the basis of stalking.","causal_attribution":"Prosecutor's characterization; the defendant agreed to the protective order as part of the plea."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'had, at one point, threatened to find and kill someone she had a prior relationship with.'; 'had conducted searches for that prior partner’s license plate, according to the affidavit.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the affidavit, the ex-girlfriend told investigators the officer had once threatened to find and kill someone she had a prior relationship with, and he had searched that person's plate.","causal_attribution":"The ex-girlfriend's statement as recorded in the affidavit; not tested in court."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'pleaded guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information'; 'was sentenced to five years in prison with credit for 42 days.'; 'The state also agreed to not pursue stalking charges concerning the incident.'; 'use of Flock cameras remains suspended as a direct result of this case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The judgment lists 100 counts of misuse of official information'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 30 September 2026 the officer pleaded guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information and was sentenced to five years in prison; the state agreed not to pursue stalking charges, and the Lufkin Police Department's use of Flock cameras remains suspended because of the case.","causal_attribution":"Court outcome as reported from the DA, the judgment and the police department."}],"effects":[{"label":"a woman's vehicle was searched more than 10,000 times on police license-plate readers by her ex-boyfriend, a police officer, who also tracked her family and partners","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"prosecutors describe coercive control continued after the relationship through the searches, and a lifetime protective order was issued for her","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.ktre.com/2026/08/26/lufkin-officer-accused-searching-ex-girlfriends-plates-flock-cameras-more-than-10000-times/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (KTRE, 26 August 2026). Reports the Texas Ranger's arrest affidavit.","independence_group":"lufkin-da-rangers"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.ktre.com/2026/09/30/lufkin-officer-pleads-5-years-100-counts-related-flock-camera-misuse/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (KTRE, 30 September 2026). Reports the plea and sentence with an interview of District Attorney Amy Wren and a Lufkin police statement. KBTX carries the same copy.","independence_group":"lufkin-da-rangers"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://lufkindailynews.com/news/community/former-lufkin-officer-sentenced-to-5-years-in-flock-camera-case/article_6e3a6c0f-235c-4b18-b5c8-f09f37e2cfc3.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (The Lufkin Daily News, 1 October 2026). Cites the judgment of conviction, the indictment and the District Attorney's statement; treated as the same chain because it rests on the same prosecution records.","independence_group":"lufkin-da-rangers"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/lufkin-officer-gets-5-prison-191104550.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (Tyler Morning Telegraph article syndicated on Yahoo News, 30 September 2026). Relays the District Attorney's news release. Yahoo's AI-generated key-points box was not used.","independence_group":"lufkin-da-rangers"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["Whether the officer approached or confronted the ex-girlfriend or others using the search results.","How many of the 11 people whose vehicles were located suffered harm beyond the searches.","Which other law-enforcement databases he used and what they returned."],"geography":{"basis":"The Lufkin Police Department's Flock system is in Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas, and the case was prosecuted in the 159th District Court in Lufkin (KTRE, Lufkin Daily News). The affidavit's witnesses confirmed vehicles searched were theirs; their residence is not otherwise stated.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a contextual case (made_claim_about) consistent with earlier officer-misuse rows for Flock license-plate readers: a Lufkin police officer pleaded guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information after the Angelina County District Attorney and the Texas Rangers found he had searched the department's Flock readers to track his former girlfriend, her family and partners (KTRE, Lufkin Daily News, Tyler Morning Telegraph). All sources rest on the same prosecution records. The officer and the former girlfriend are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Angelina County District Attorney states that a Texas Rangers investigation found the officer used the department's Flock system for more than 25,000 non-law-enforcement license-plate inquiries, and he pleaded guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information tied to that use (KTRE, Lufkin Daily News, Tyler Morning Telegraph). The automated readers produced the vehicle-location records about the people searched; the searches and their purpose were the officer's own acts. He also used other law-enforcement databases, which are not treated as AI. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Lufkin, Texas: a police officer is sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information for searching the department's Flock license-plate readers to track his ex-girlfriend, her family and people she dated between mid-2024 and December 2025","summary":"A Lufkin Police Department officer of 11 years pleaded guilty on 30 September 2026 to 100 counts of misuse of official information and was sentenced to five years in prison, according to the Angelina County District Attorney as reported by KTRE, the Lufkin Daily News and the Tyler Morning Telegraph. A Texas Rangers investigation found he ran more than 25,000 license-plate inquiries on the department's Flock Safety readers for purposes unrelated to law enforcement, about 18,000 of them on plates associated with three people. Prosecutors say he used Flock and other law-enforcement databases to gather the identities, home addresses, plates and vehicle registrations of his former girlfriend, her family members and people she had dated. His arrest affidavit, reported by KTRE in August, says her plate alone was searched more than 10,000 times between June 2024 and December 2025, and that she told investigators he had once threatened to find and kill a former partner of hers. He agreed to a lifetime protective order for her on the basis of stalking, and the state dropped separate stalking charges. The audit began after USA Today asked the department about an officer's Flock use in August 2026. Lufkin has suspended its use of the cameras.","incidentDate":"2024-06-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-12-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-26","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system used by the Lufkin Police Department, which the officer searched to track his ex-girlfriend's vehicle and the vehicles of her family and partners","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Prosecutors say a Lufkin police officer used the department's Flock license-plate readers and other police databases to track his former girlfriend, her family and people she dated for about 18 months, continuing coercive control after their relationship ended; he pleaded guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information and agreed to a lifetime protective order for her (Angelina County District Attorney, as reported by KTRE and the Lufkin Daily News).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":11,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"At least 11 people: the Lufkin Daily News reports that the officer pleaded guilty to misusing official information tied to his use of the department's Flock system to track vehicles belonging to 11 people, and that prosecutors alleged he located vehicles belonging to 11 people from July 2024 through December 2025. The arrest affidavit reported by KTRE describes six of them: the former girlfriend (her plate searched more than 10,000 times), two of her family members, two men linked to her and a woman who had a relationship with the officer in early 2025. Other people whose plates were among the 25,000 inquiries are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-TX","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.ktre.com/2026/09/30/lufkin-officer-pleads-5-years-100-counts-related-flock-camera-misuse/","primarySourceLabel":"KTRE, 30 September 2026: Former Lufkin officer pleads to 5 years for 100 counts related to Flock camera misuse","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:30:06.658676+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:30:06.658676+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","stalking","coercive-control","texas","lufkin","angelina-county","criminal-charges","guilty-plea","made-claim-about"]},{"id":"2026-newby-adelphi-ai-detector-vacated","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'In November 2024, Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam'; 'Oelze gave the paper a grade of zero, according to court filings, in part because he thought it was AI-generated'; 'According to the lawsuit, Adelphi relied in part on AI detection software'; 'Turnitin's AI detector marked the essay as fully AI-written, but Newby ran it through two other detectors that said it was written by a human, court records show'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Adelphi University says an AI detection software flagged 19-year-old Orion Newby's work and claims the paper was \"too advanced\" for the first-year student'; 'That paper earned him a zero'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In November 2024 Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam for the fall 2024 World Civilizations 1 class; the professor graded it zero in part because he thought it was AI-generated, and Adelphi, per the lawsuit, relied in part on AI-detection software — court records show Turnitin's detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human.","causal_attribution":"The detector results and the lawsuit's contents are attributed to court filings as carried by Newsday; the professor's suspicion is attributed to court filings and ABC7."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'University officials ordered Newby to attend a plagiarism workshop — which, while considered a \"nondisciplinary\" punishment, could have resulted in suspension or expulsion if he was found to have committed a second offense'; 'The university's denial of Newby's appeal left the family \"no choice\" but to sue'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Adelphi told him he had to take an anti-plagiarism course, and until he did, he couldn't enroll in other classes. That's when his family sued.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Newby was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop — a 'nondisciplinary' punishment that could have led to suspension or expulsion on a second offense — was told he could not enroll in other classes until he complied, and his appeal was denied; the family sued in October 2025.","causal_attribution":"Both chains independently carry the workshop order and the enrollment block (Newsday from the ruling stage, ABC7 from the filing stage)."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'state Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County wrote on Jan. 28. The school must expunge his record, the judge ruled'; 'were \"without valid basis and devoid of reason\"'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Inside Higher Ed's relay describes a 'federal judge' — erroneous; Judge Marber's state Supreme Court decision controls.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 28 January 2026, New York State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County ruled that Adelphi's finding and its denial of his appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered the school to expunge his record.","causal_attribution":"The ruling is documented by Newsday's report quoting the decision; the IHE forum error is recorded explicitly. The decision text itself was not fetched (Newsday's account is the inspected record)."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'treated since he was about 2 years old for learning and neurological disabilities that include language and auditory processing disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder'; 'He had worked on it with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's $5,000-a-semester program'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Newby has learning differences... issues specifically with language processing. At Adelphi, he's in a special program with extra support'; 'I told him I worked 15 to 20 hours with tutors'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Newby has been treated since about age two for learning and neurological disabilities — language and auditory processing disorders and ADHD — and wrote the paper with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's own $5,000-a-semester disability-support program, working 15-20 hours with tutors.","causal_attribution":"The disability and support details come from his mother's and his own accounts, carried by both chains."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The family has spent six figures on legal costs, she said'; Lesko passages ('bellwether example'; 'I can't tell you how many parents have reached out to us with similar issues').","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The family spent six figures on legal costs; attorney Mark Lesko called the ruling a 'bellwether example' and said many parents had contacted him with similar issues.","causal_attribution":"The mother's and the attorney's accounts; the 'many parents' figure is unquantified and no other persons are counted."}],"effects":[{"label":"false AI-plagiarism accusation with academic and financial consequences until a court ordered expungement","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"recovery: court cleared his record; he continues at Adelphi as a second-year history major","claim_id":"c3","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/adelphi-university-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit-oh07enyz","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-02-09T10:00Z; 48 paragraphs).","independence_group":"newsday"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://abc7ny.com/post/adelphi-student-long-island-sues-university-allegations-he-used-ai-write-essay/17980409/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-10-10T20:54Z).","independence_group":"abc7"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/11/adelphi-student-wins-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit","kind":"trade_press_relaying_newsday","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (2026-02-11). Relays Newsday; its 'federal judge' phrase is erroneous — Judge Marber sits in the state Supreme Court, and the claim records the discrepancy.","independence_group":"newsday"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["education","justice","accessibility"],"unknowns":["The decision text was not fetched; the ruling is recorded through Newsday's account quoting the judge.","The similarity scores Turnitin returned and the university's full decision letter are not public in the inspected sources.","Whether Adelphi changed its AI-detection or appeals policies afterward is not reported.","The first-person Times account (28 Aug 2026) is paywalled and was not inspected; his later reflections are therefore not claimed.","The workshop's completion status after the ruling (moot after expungement) is not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: Adelphi University, Garden City, New York. Affected person: Newby, a student there living in Lido Beach, NY. Court: New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional automated-decision case (made_decision_about / made_claim_about): a detector-driven false accusation with court-vacated sanctions. Newby and his parents spoke publicly; his disability is recorded because it is central to the case's facts (the university's own support program produced the writing process the detector misread), not as a label.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The lawsuit records that Adelphi relied in part on AI-detection software; court records show Turnitin's detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human (Newsday). The university's process, not the tool alone, produced the sanction — recorded in the harm mechanism.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_decision_about","made_claim_about"]},"name":"Adelphi accused Orion Newby of AI plagiarism after a detector flagged his paper; a Nassau County judge ordered the finding expunged","summary":"Orion Newby, an Adelphi University first-year student with language and auditory processing disabilities, received a zero in November 2024 on a World Civilizations paper after the professor suspected it was AI-generated and the university relied in part on AI-detection software; he was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop and his appeal was denied, leaving him one finding from suspension or expulsion. Newby — who had written the paper with 15-20 hours of tutor support through the university's own disability program — said the detectors flagged his citations, and two other detectors scored the paper as human. After the family sued, New York State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County ruled on 28 January 2026 that Adelphi's finding and its denial of his appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered his record expunged. The family spent six figures on legal costs.","incidentDate":"2024-11-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-01-28","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-10-10","aiSystem":"Turnitin AI-detection software (and the university's reliance on it)","aiProduct":"Turnitin AI-text detector","aiCompany":"Turnitin","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A false AI-plagiarism finding brought a zero, a plagiarism-workshop order one step from suspension, sleepless nights, and a year-plus fight costing six figures to clear his record — despite two other detectors scoring the paper human and the writing help coming from the university's own disability program.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One documented harmed person: Newby, the subject of the detector-driven accusation (court ruling and Newsday/ABC7 reporting). Other students mentioned by his attorney ('many parents have reached out') are unquantified and not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/adelphi-university-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit-oh07enyz","primarySourceLabel":"Newsday (9 Feb 2026) — the ruling, the judge's words, the family and attorney accounts, the disability and Bridges program detail","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T09:31:23.493757+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:46.697576+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["made-decision-about","made-claim-about","ai-detector","turnitin","education","disability","court-win","new-york"]}]}