"Justice" in Ferguson? Blacks Arrested 4 Times As Much As Whites

[mythology]

5. The article doesn't effectively support its conclusion

Just because blacks are more likely to be arrested doesn't by itself indicate that the cause is racism by the legal system. I'm not saying that it's not accurate, but it's sloppy work. There's plenty of research into the effects of racism on the legal system, but just stating that blacks are more likely to be arrested doesn't actually prove anything.

It would need to establish that the correlation is racially based rather than say poverty based. If most sort of small crime is committed by the poor, who are disproportionately black, then it would follow that blacks would be arrested more frequently.

Also it would be helpful to show if blacks are more likely to get longer sentences than whites for the same crimes and from the same socio-economic background. Which on average they are. But that evidence isn't given in the article.

Sorry I just dislike sloppy work as it leads to people often making poorly informed decisions.