David Colarusso

An attorney and educator by training, David has worked as a public defender, data scientist, software engineer, and high school physics teacher. He is the author of a programming language for lawyers, QnA Markup, an award winning legal hacker, ABA Legal Rebel, and Fastcase 50 honoree. In 2017 he was named one of the ABA’s top legal tweeters.
A futuristic, sci-fi scene: a man stands centered against a cool gray background, both hands raised as if pressing invisible controls. Black gloves with glowing blue points trace his fingertips, while translucent holographic arcs and data panels float around his hands. Soft reflections of code, grids, and interface elements layer across the image, making it feel like he’s physically manipulating a digital system in midair.

Algos, bias, due process, & you

TL;DR: I built a bunch of highly-modular online simulations you can use with your students. They cover automation bias, the false positive paradox, competing definitions of fairness, disparate impact resulting from machine bias, and the value of due process. Most of them are self-explanatory and can be used on their own. However, the first one intentionally lacks in-simulation context, and I think linking them together creates a more-compelling narrative arc. Play with the links above in isolation, or join me for the guided tour.

This image presents the famous quote by Mark Twain — "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." The quote is printed in the center of the image, flanked by A black-and-white portrait of Mark Twain on the left, and a bright blue butterfly on the right. The quote is attributed to, "Mark (Bluesky) Twain."

How and why I (still) use social media: Bluesky isn’t dead; used correctly, it’s pretty great actually!

TL;DR: Be intentional. Find your community, and control your algorithm(s). I left Twitter in the winter of 2022 after about 15 years as a power user. During the intervening years I’ve learned a lot about myself and social media. I’ve tried a number of potential online homes, and even attempted to build replacements for what I was missing, like a tool aimed at satisfying my need for a newsfeed. This is the story of how I’ve come to find social media I enjoy, a showcase of some content I think you might like, and an invitation (along with some instruction) for you to take control of your media consumption by building your own tools.