Research Assistant for Local Laws
Diag Davenport, Professor
Information, School of
Applications for Spring 2026 are closed for this project.
According to the internet (and ChatGPT), it is unlawful to whistle for a lost canary before 7 AM in Berkeley.
Are you skeptical of this claim? In which case, you would probably want to look up canary laws in Berkeley. Unfortunately, you cannot easily do this. If you could, you would find that the closest area is:
The actual ordinance is found under: 13.40.030A
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, and in addition thereto, it shall be unlawful for any person to willfully or negligently make or continue, or cause to be made or continued, any loud, unnecessary, or unusual noise which disturbs the peace and quiet of any neighborhood or which causes any discomfort or annoyance to any reasonable person of normal sensitiveness residing in the area.
Help us build a 1) nation-wide 2) repository of 3) easily-accessible local laws.
This will involve 1) collecting data across thousands of different sources. 2) creating a functional and long-lasting dataset 3) developing a human-computer interface making it easy for researchers and residents to access this information.
Role: This role focuses on the non-technical and societal dimensions of the project. It is well-suited for students interested in how laws are created, interpreted, and enforced—and how those processes shape everyday life.
What You’ll Do
Literature exploration: Review and synthesize academic research from history, law, economics, and sociology to understand how local laws emerge and evolve (for example, how regulations on electric bikes are proposed, debated, and adopted).
Institutional analysis: Examine the real-world processes that govern the development, maintenance, and enforcement of law at the local level.
System testing: Help evaluate and stress-test a system for querying local laws by identifying gaps, ambiguities, and failure points.
Data annotation: Annotate underlying legal and policy data to improve accuracy, structure, and interpretability.
What You’ll Learn
How local laws are made in practice—not just in theory.
How to read legal and policy texts critically and connect them to social and economic contexts.
How qualitative research and annotation contribute to building and evaluating real-world data systems.
How interdisciplinary research informs responsible technology and policy design.
Qualifications: Strong critical thinking skills and intellectual curiosity
Willingness to learn, ask questions, and engage with unfamiliar material
Ability to read and synthesize academic and policy-oriented texts
Attention to detail and care in reviewing and annotating data
Reliability and openness to feedback
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Denis Peskoff, Post-Doc
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Education, Cognition & Psychology Social Sciences