An interesting article on statistics as referenced in court.
Read and digest and wonder how many innocents are in jail based on this evidence never mind how many are set up. Take the quiz before you read and see what you get. I got 4 out of the 5 but I really had to think about it and still gotone ofmy less thans the wrong way around. It says ‘Bad mathematics means rough justice’. That is not true it’s our understanding of mathematics that leads to rough justice and our perceptions when we hear these figures said by a lawyer in court.
After this I’m thinking that when we have court cases where statistics are used the only way we can actually get any real justice out of the jury is if they then have to sit through an hour of statistics training so the can interpret the results.
Who would have thought facts that actually work in your benefit could be so harmful to your case?
One of my favourite books was 200% of nothing. It is how we can use statistics to justify anything we wanted even when the reality was the opposite. I’ve used the arguments in it several times to support my proposals and a couple of times the arguments have helped save us from having to undergo audits or supervision by the customer. All using real facts but cut and displayed (slumped shoulders and hides face) like a lawyer would.
The lawyers will love that last little bit.
Well. The difference between lawyers and politicians is politicians are happy to lie even knowing that those lies will be made public. Lawyers are a lot more careful.