Investigator Guides
A free, operational method for assessing whether an administrative record contains sufficient, traceable support for its conclusions, particularly where AI-assisted drafting has contributed to the record. Three editions, for employment (EEO), fair-housing, and international equality and human-rights investigations, each built around five review conditions and a Record Interrogation Framework a reviewer can apply at intake or before finalization.
Written by Phillip Wikes, former Lead Civil Rights Officer, Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, M.S. Negotiation and Conflict Management. The method behind these guides has been graded record by record by 58 international reviewers across three studies, including an expert panel of 36 independent experts across 16 countries, each completing a full 24-record set.
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If the file did not start, use this link. Nothing was asked of you for it and nothing was recorded about you.
Nothing further is required of you. If you want to give something back, the reviewer evaluation asks nine questions about how records are reviewed where you work. It takes about four minutes, it is anonymous, and it does not ask who you are.
To test a record you already have, work through the Seven-Point Record Defensibility Check. It takes one closed matter and about five minutes, asks for no registration and no upload, and your answers stay in your browser.
As AI-assisted drafting enters investigative and administrative documentation, records can read as complete and professional while lacking traceable factual grounding. The basis for a conclusion may live in the author's memory rather than on the page, a distinction that becomes significant when the author is no longer available and the record must be examined on its own.
The Justification Review Standard (JRS) provides a structured way to identify those documentation-traceability gaps before a record is finalized. Each guide walks through the five conditions, the AI-documentation risk patterns, a Record Interrogation Framework, and a one-page reviewer quick reference.
These guides are supplemental investigative references. They do not constitute legal advice, establish legal sufficiency, or replace applicable investigative procedures. References to specific agencies or statutes describe the contexts in which the method may be applied and do not imply endorsement or affiliation. Applicable jurisdiction, national legislation, and organizational procedures govern.