False Assumption Registry

Criminal Justice

26 entries in this category

• Groups Have Equal Innate Potential
  Races and the sexes have the same innate distribution of potential, making all group disparities the result of environmental forces.
  Mainstream still holds this assumption to be true despite evidence against it 26 sources
• Policing Disparities Prove Discrimination
  Disproportionate police searches of Black and Latino drivers indicate intentional racial discrimination unrelated to crime rates.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 7 sources
• Anti-Police Activism Cuts Homicides
  Reducing police presence through anti-police activism will lower violence and homicide rates in Black communities.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 6 sources
• Grooming Gangs Are a Moral Panic
  Concerns about South Asian grooming gangs sexually abusing young white girls in the UK constitute a racist moral panic with no disproportionate ethnic connection to child sexual exploitation.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 3 sources
• Personality Outweighs Situations in Behavior
  Personality traits and personal history primarily determine human behavior more than current situations.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 3 sources
• Places Drive Homicide Differences
  Differences in firearm homicide rates between adjacent neighborhoods are primarily caused by environmental features of places rather than differences in people.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 3 sources
• 2020 Homicide Surge Preceded Floyd
  The large majority of the 29% increase in homicides in 2020 occurred before George Floyd's death on May 25.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 3 sources
• System 1 Causes Irrational Violence
  Human errors, biases, and violence stem from fast System 1 thinking that can be corrected by deliberate System 2 reflection.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 2 sources
• Epstein's Clients Are Power Elites
  Jeffrey Epstein's network consists of sophisticated, powerful, and intellectually elite figures rather than mediocre, socially inept losers.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 2 sources
• Low IQ Exempts Murderers from Execution
  Murderers scoring below an IQ cutoff of 65 to 75 suffer intellectual disability that precludes the death penalty, overriding objective test scores with clinical judgment.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 2 sources
• Transgender Identity Warrants Leniency
  Transgender identity should mitigate sentences for attempted political assassination.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 2 sources
• Trans Skepticism Causes Suicide Genocide
  Skepticism of transgender ideology drives trans people to suicide and equates to genocide.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 2 sources
• Right-Wing Rhetoric Incites Assassinations
  Rhetoric from conservatives like Sarah Palin and the Tea Party motivates shootings of Democrats.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 2 sources
• Deporting Criminal Immigrants is Cruel
  Deporting immigrants who committed serious crimes after serving prison time is unjust if they show rehabilitation and nuance.
  Mainstream still holds this assumption to be true despite evidence against it 2 sources
• Poverty Drives Urban Homicides
  Poverty, inequality, and deprivation are the root causes of high homicide rates.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• Rifle Bans Reduce Gun Crime
  Regulating legal sales of rifles to hobbyists will significantly lower the murder rate driven by illegal handguns.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 1 sources
• Liberal Judging Improves Public Safety
  Activist liberal judicial reforms in criminal law and psychiatry make the world a better place without increasing violent crime rates.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• Angela Davis Innocent of Judge Murder
  Angela Davis bears no moral responsibility for the 1970 courtroom murder of Judge Harold Haley despite buying the murder weapon.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• Disarming Criminals is Racist
  Taking guns off criminals at point-of-use is racist because it disproportionately affects black offenders.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• Racial Realism Unneeded for Crime Control
  Effective crime reduction does not require public acknowledgment of racial disparities in murder rates.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 1 sources
• NYT Can Omit Black Homicide Rates
  Mainstream media can safely withhold information on racial gaps in homicide rates from readers without impairing public understanding of key events.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• BLM Policies Normalized Homicides
  Homicide rates following the BLM era and Racial Reckoning would return to pre-2014 levels without lasting increases.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• BLM Media Hype Protects Black Lives
  Intense media promotion of Black Lives Matter improves safety and reduces gun violence in black communities.
  Experts are divided on whether this assumption was actually false 1 sources
• Economics Alone Drives Urban Decline
  Population decline in major American cities stems primarily from economic shifts like factory closures and job losses rather than high murder rates.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 1 sources
• Racial Reckoning Reduces Police Shootings
  The racial reckoning and intense focus on racial bias in policing after George Floyd's death would reduce fatal police shootings.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 1 sources
• Social Equity Cannabis Licenses Empower Ex-Offenders
  Preferential cannabis retail licenses and funding for people previously prosecuted for marijuana offenses will create successful flagship businesses and recompense historical wrongs from the drug war.
  Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream 1 sources