--- Dennis Claxton <ddclaxton at earthlink.net> wrote:
> My listeners were surprised to learn that the
> majority of those we
> Californians have put to death have been white. But
> they were astonished
> when I added this statistic: Among the 27 victims of
> these 12 condemned
> prisoners, not a single one was African-American!
> (Five were Asian; three
> were Latinos; and 19 were white.)
I would be highly suspicious of any conclusion drawn from a non-random sample of 27 split at least four ways. Such small numbers do not yield any statistically significant results, and worse yet do not allow using any controls, such as the severity of crime, aggravating/extenuating circumstances, quality of legal defense, etc. It is impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions from such data, unless one treats these data as a drunk treats a lamp post - for support rather than enlightenment.
Adding cases from different states and different time periods does not help much, because this introduces the need for still more controls, and the problem of small number of cases per category still remains. Likewise, non-probability sample problem also is unresolved by such a move.
Indeed, there is a good reason why courts have consistently ruled statistical evidence of that sort inadmissible.
Please note that I am not arguing that there is no bias in sentencing such cases. All I am saying is that one must demonstrate that bias on the individual case basis rather by using statistical inference which pertains to classes rather than individuals.
Wojtek _______________________ DISCLAIMER: Opinions posted by this writer to this forum are solely forms of literary criticism exercised as the First Amendment right, and do not necessarily reflect the author's views or attitudes toward real-life people, including other writers posting to this forum, groups of people, institutions, or events to which the critiqued texts may refer, either explicitly or implicitly. Any statement asserting or implying such views or attitudes on the basis of this writer's opinions posted to this forum is thus unfounded, and may be libelous. ________________________
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