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Did the study account for previous convictions, having a criminal record, being on probation, having other charges present in the case, etc... Or did it just l

• bilbo0s 11y ago
  The data, at least in the Milwaukee prosecutor's office, does account for a lot of that. In fact, it apparently accounts for really obscure state like "two or more prior convictions", "arrested under 16", and "ever suspended or expelled from school". So all of that would have been part of the study. But I think what's important to understand is that different people are going to have different advocates. And that will not be part of the study. Maybe a lot of the white kids had better lawyers, as opposed to the black kids who had overworked public defenders ??? Also... we shouldn't minimize the impact that parents can have on the process. Maybe a lot of the white parents were very involved and maybe even talking to the prosecutors ??? So then the prosecutor says "well... this kid only had a joint... I'll just let his or her mother/father take care of it." The mothers may not be that active as advocates in the case of the black kids. What advocates were acting on behalf of a kid... we don't know. And it's just the sort of thing that would, typically, not be recorded - and, at the same time, have an enormous impact on outcomes.