Methodology
How The Pillory maps laws and issues to the Constitution, and how reports are reviewed.
Constitutional analysis of bills
The Pillory maps the Constitution; it doesn't rule on it. For bills that our officials have voted on, an AI tool writes a first draft showing which parts of the Constitution a bill touches. People review every draft. Nothing here is a verdict on whether a bill is constitutional, and nothing here is legal advice.
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Start from the bill's own words
We read the latest text on Congress.gov for federal bills, or on the California Legislature's site for state bills. If the text isn't available, we use the official summary and label the analysis "limited: based on summary only." Very long bills are cut at a set length, and the analysis says so.
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An AI tool writes a draft
The draft is written by Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, from the bill text and the full text of the Constitution. Its instructions: give no verdicts on constitutionality, use no party labels or partisan language, present the strongest version of each view, and say "uncertain" rather than guess.
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Automatic checks before anything is saved
Every passage quoted from the Constitution is compared with the National Archives text. A quote that doesn't match word for word is replaced with the exact text. Every court case is looked up in CourtListener, a free public database of court opinions. Cases that can't be found under the same name are removed, along with every sentence that relies on them. Each change is logged.
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People review it
Until a person reviews it, an analysis is marked "AI-drafted, not yet reviewed." A reviewer can edit any part, approve it, reject it, or ask for a new draft. Approved analyses show "Reviewed by" with the reviewer's name and the date. Earlier versions and every edit are kept.
Meetings and agenda watch
Meeting times, places, agendas, staff reports, minutes and video links come from Calaveras County's official meeting portal, for the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission. State committee hearings come from Open States and show when one of our two state legislators sits on the committee.
- How to weigh in: the comment instructions and deadline are copied word for word from the official agenda. When a short deadline is shown (for example "Written comments by Mon, Oct 12, 4:00 pm"), it is worked out only from the agenda's own plain wording, such as "no later than 4:00 pm on the day before the meeting".
- Agenda watch: an AI tool (Claude, made by Anthropic) writes two or three neutral sentences about each item, from the official agenda only, and flags items about the budget, land use, fees and taxes, public safety, or public access and meetings. These summaries are labeled "AI-drafted from the official agenda" and link to the source. A sentence that states a number, amount or date the agenda item doesn't contain is removed automatically. People review the summaries.
- Links to issues: the AI tool may suggest that an agenda item relates to an issue. A suggestion is shown only after a person approves it.
- Votes: how each supervisor voted will be added from the published minutes.
What each analysis contains
- What the bill does: a short, plain summary without judgment words.
- Provisions it touches: each quoted from the Constitution, with one sentence on why.
- Where it aligns and where it may be in tension with that text, written as questions a careful reader could raise, not conclusions.
- Why this might still serve the public: where a policy departs from the baseline, the case for it, including whether it would need a constitutional amendment under Article V.
- How different approaches read it: for contested questions only, how a reading based on original meaning, one based on precedent, and one based on evolving interpretation would each see it, side by side.
- Cases cited: only cases verified in CourtListener, each linked to the opinion.
- What it can't tell you: the limits of the analysis.
The Constitution's text
The Pillory quotes the Constitution and its 27 amendments only from one stored copy of the National Archives transcription, which keeps the original spelling (such as "chuse" and "Controul"). The full text is on the Constitution page, and an automatic check compares it with the Archives whenever it changes.
Reports and issues
How reports are reviewed, corroborated, and given a confidence level.