Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Washington Post fact checks Alito's SO recidivism claim

The Washington Post has awarded three Pinocchio's (out of four!) to Justice Samuel Alito's sex offender recidivism claims, included in his concurring opinion in the Supreme Court's Packingham decision. Alito cites the common misconception that sex offenders are "much more likely than any other type of offender to be rearrested for a new rape or sexual assault," a claim the paper calls misleading.
This opinion cites previous opinions that use outdated data going back to the 1980s — more than 30 years ago. Moreover, it obscures the fact according to 2005 data, the percentage of sex offenders getting rearrested for the same crime is low compared to non-sex offenders, with the exception of people convicted of homicide. It does the public no service when the Supreme Court justices make a misleading characterization like this. 
Read the analysis at the Washington Post.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Healthy debate and the exchange of ideas are encouraged. Keep your comments clean and respectful. No personal attacks will be allowed.