{"id":127564,"date":"2015-08-20T17:49:05","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T23:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/20\/lies-damn-lies-and-remarkably-shoddy-but-inexplicably-canonical-statistics.html"},"modified":"2015-08-21T15:03:43","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T21:03:43","slug":"lies-damn-lies-and-remarkably-shoddy-but-inexplicably-canonical-statistics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/20\/lies-damn-lies-and-remarkably-shoddy-but-inexplicably-canonical-statistics.html","title":{"rendered":"Lies, Damn Lies, and Remarkably Shoddy but Inexplicably Canonical Statistics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From what this article indicates, a lot of legal citations based on scientific statistics are more like a bad game of Telephone (Chinese Whispers) than reliable bodies of previously established evidence that courts down the line can draw on.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, an unsupported comment by someone with a monetary interest in showing how his sex offender treatment was best gets quoted in a pop psychology magazine, then mentioned in a filing by the US Solictor General, then quoted as justification for draconian legal measures by a Supreme Court Justice, and from there cited by courts across the nation for similar purposes.<\/p>\n<p> You can&#39;t have an intelligent debate (let alone trial) about stuff if that&#39;s how shoddy your research is.  It does make you wonder what other &quot;statistics&quot; we base our lives on that are similarly unfounded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"sm2wp\"><p>\n<a style='display:inline;' href='http:\/\/wapo.st\/1NxOxB1'><br \/>\n<img src='https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/nsW3Dg13x9kw6loa2Tf8DIG4947cW35fiMvE7JvdrRIBwNRgN7HCYRvWQTExcDSnslYoM7mif_8Y3xdcIEUHi8IJouvHhCqWrWO_7RBF4HN8Z1hID1hSpleAWRwtUepqIcMXv9AYk-W-44lmKWsvGEXimuHeW3lHM9CTZ1zD-w=w506-h303-p' border='0' style='max-width:650px;'\/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:large;'><a href='http:\/\/wapo.st\/1NxOxB1'>How a dubious statistic convinced U.S. courts to approve of indefinite detention<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style='font-size:small;'><a href='https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+DaveHill47\/posts\/KkigHqag8hW'>View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From what this article indicates, a lot of legal citations based on scientific statistics are more like a bad game of Telephone (Chinese Whispers) than reliable bodies of previously established evidence that courts down the line can draw on. In this case, an unsupported comment by someone with a monetary interest in showing how his &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/20\/lies-damn-lies-and-remarkably-shoddy-but-inexplicably-canonical-statistics.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Lies, Damn Lies, and Remarkably Shoddy but Inexplicably Canonical Statistics&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,350,715,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-civil-liberties","category-crime-punishment","category-science"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2833,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/09\/15\/saturday_scrupl.html","url_meta":{"origin":127564,"position":0},"title":"Saturday Scruples","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 15-Sep-02 12:03am","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the Saturday Scruples....","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Personal Q&amp;A&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Personal Q&amp;A","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/personal-qa"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16177,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/11\/11\/unblogged-bits-for-wednesday-11-november-2009.html","url_meta":{"origin":127564,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits for Wednesday, 11 November 2009","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 11-Nov-09 5:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Wiped: 'Dollhouse' goes inactive as Fox cancels the show: Tempo Jamison Foser: Lies, Damed Lies, and Gateway Pundit's use of statistics: Jamison Foser Abortion Rights Supporters In Congress Request Talks With Obama: The Huffington\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Potpourri&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3496,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/11\/07\/justice_2.html","url_meta":{"origin":127564,"position":2},"title":"Justice","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 7-Nov-02 6:31am","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, I want to see the DC Sniper(s) brought to justice. Heck, I want it to be hard justice. I want a case so rock-solid, the Devil himself couldn't argue...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Crime &amp; Punishment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Crime &amp; Punishment","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/crime-punishment"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26449,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/16\/lies-damned-lies-statistics-and-evil-democratic-lying-lies.html","url_meta":{"origin":127564,"position":3},"title":"Lies, damned lies, statistics, AND EVIL DEMOCRATIC LYING LIES!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 16-Feb-12 7:22pm","format":false,"excerpt":"1. Obama is evil.Therefore,2. If the economic numbers are bad, it is proof of #1, because he is tanking the economy in order to impose a Secular Muslim Communist Tyranny over the United States.3. If the economic numbers are good, it is proof of #1, because obviously it's all a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3789,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/03\/27\/the_value_of_sn.html","url_meta":{"origin":127564,"position":4},"title":"The Value of (snort) Trust","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Mar-03 6:03pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Network registration yahoos -- er, idiots, Veri$ign\/NetSol is in trouble for shoddy security in turning over someone's domain to someone else with a laughable lack of validation. But unlike just...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hi-Tech&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/06\/10\/curio_sity.html","url_meta":{"origin":127564,"position":5},"title":"Curio-sity","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 10-Jun-03 11:09am","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting -- and damning -- wrap-up on the Baghdad museum episode. Most of the blame for the \"shoddy reporting\" on the matter is placed by the commentary squarely on...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Geopolitical Brouhaha&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127580,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127564\/revisions\/127580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}