Re: Rape Convictions.

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 01:04:52 -0800, Kate Orman wrote:

> Neil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>> Yin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message: 
>> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:
> 
>> > Thus almost all of the 86% of sex criminals convicted by
>> > guilty plea are guilty.
>> 
>> Nonsense.  Many, if not most, guilty pleas will be part of a plea 
>> bargain.
> 
> That's true, but isn't a plea bargain where the criminal pleads 
> guilty to a *lesser* charge? What are you suggesting those men *are* 
> guilty of?

Potentially nothing? How do you account for the trapped innocents trying
to make their way through kangaroo courts?


> 
> While I'm not sure where the 86% figure comes from, the BJS reports 
> that in 1992, about 8 in 10 men convicted of rape pled guilty. This is 
> strong evidence that the vast majority of those being convicted of rape 
> are not innocent men victimised by malevolent women. (It's quite right 
> to point out that it's an absolute disaster for any individual who *is* 
> wrongly convicted - but let's keep the problem in proportion.)

No amount of "soft" studies and investigations can ever match the
precision of DNA testing. You have to be mathematically literate to fully
appreciate the error (im)probabilities of DNA.

Studies that ignore obvious iron-clad evidence would be funny, if they
weren't so tragic.

-C

> The BJS paper is available here:
> 
> http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/soo.htm
> 
> Yours,
> - Kate Orman