Re: Hard Science

Mick,

My post wasn't about the US criminal justice system. It was to illustrate
a point related to the on-going thread, namely the presentation of
ideology as science. It was a timely example. 

I suffer from no illusions about the United States' system of criminal
justice, although I feel good when people have their death sentences
overturned. How about you?

Andrew Austin
Knoxville, TN

On Wed, 7 Jun 2000, Mick Drake wrote:

>OK, so the social effects of racism are a social fact. So 
>what's new? The lawyer was of course, 
>despite his self-qualification, implicitly misrepresenting 
>the social effect as an inherent attribute 
>of individuals of a particular social category. In terms of 
>his own frame of reference, he was correct, but that frame 
>of reference misrepresents the social as the individual. 
>Are you really 
>under some illusion that the US judicial system is 
>administered on trancendent principles of justice? Or that 
>scientistic discourse adopts as its subject the subject of 
>the regime or ideology in which it operates?
>Mick Drake
>
>On Wed, 7 Jun 2000 03:00:49 -0400 (EDT) Andrew Wayne Austin 
><aaustin@utkux.utcc.utk.edu> wrote:
>> WSN
>> 
>> This morning on one of those news magazines a psychologist in Texas came
>> in for some criticism for the character of his expert testimony in 
>capital
>> cases. The Supreme Court overturned a death penalty sentence (and will
>> likely overturn more) because the jury was allowed to hear testimony that
>> ethnicity was one of the risk factors in predicting dangerousness. Since
>> blacks and Hispanics are statistically more likely to be involved in
>> street crime, they are potential threats, and incapacitation is the 
>proper
>> response. The psychologist figures his testimony has sent 10 people to
>> their deaths.
>> 
>> What was interesting about the program was how the psychologist justified
>> his racist argument: on the science. He was not, he said, using racism to
>> obtain a conviction. The facts clearly showed that a black or Hispanic 
>was
>> much more likely to perpetrate a violent street crime (the statistics do
>> in fact show this). He could not apologize for the facts. He then stated
>> that it would be improper for the jury not to have access to these
>> important facts - the court would be withholding information from the 
>jury
>> and this would be dishonest, not to mention raise the possibility that
>> dangerous felons would walk the streets.
>> 
>> Another Joe Friday.
>> 
>> Andrew Austin
>> Knoxville, TN
>> 
>
>