>>> John Boone on Ethics 
 WE> Now, if you considered the number of arrests to the number of 
 WE> convictions in  
 WE> each group and compared those ratios, a bias would become  
 WE> more apparent as the ratios should be nearly equal.  Yes,  
 WE> this is testing for a different sort of bias, but it has an  
 WE> advantage of being more objective. 
 JB> 
 JB> Not necessarily.  It could be coincidence, related to some 
 JB> common factor unrelated to bias, differences of results from 
 JB> equal application of the rules within the system, etc. 
First off the statistics are not complete.  You have to do a chi-squared test 
to determine the significance of any discrepancies.  If a likely bias is 
determined it makes no difference whether the bias is blatant social bias or 
from some other systematic cause such as being unable to afford defense.  The 
determination of the cause is issue for further study, not all necessarily 
mathematical.  
... Both atheists and theists think too much about god.
---
---------------