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Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

eurekalert.org

41–50 of 333 posts

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#41
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legally, no, but it's getting common for employers to Google-background-investigate potential hires, and arrest notices can come up in such searches, which employers may or may not put unofficial weight on. Though you might be better off in a big city. In smaller towns, this kind of administrative stuff ends up published: local papers, or even the sheriff's office directly, often put out an arrest blotter with the na…

Ya, stuff like that is why we need a right to be forgotten in the US. People tend to see an arrest and leap to conclusions. I say this as a person who has never been arrested. :/

They're the extreme edge cases, but I'm sure George Zimmerman and Casey Anthony would agree 100%

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#42
post #8

Clarification: over 40% of young men in the US have been arrested. (It is ambiguous whether "youths" refers to both sexes.) (It is also possible to interpret the headline as saying that 40% of all youths worldwide have been in the US at some point, during which they were arrested, but I doubt many people were confused by that.)

[deleted]

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#43

I find this frankly implausible. What percentage of people you know have been arrested? I'm guessing very small (even assuming that many hide it and so you're knowledge is substantially skewed). So maybe that's because of your high/squeaky-clean socio-economic class? No: imagine yourself in any class you care to. Unless that class is much, much larger than your "real" class, then it would have to have an astronomical…

Not implausible at all.

I'm probably in the squeaky clean category. On a day of a meteor shower, I went with some friends to take pictures of the sky. A park ranger arrested us, for being in a national park after dark. After arresting us, he spent 5 mins talking on the radio with some other ranger, then spent 5 mins writing a citation. Paid it in the mail a few weeks later, never heard of it again.

It doesn't take much to be arrested. 40% is a bit high, but then again my group of friends at the time was Harvard/Princeton/Stanford/Berkeley students. The socioeconomic status of the population really doesn't matter.

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#44

I find this frankly implausible. What percentage of people you know have been arrested? I'm guessing very small (even assuming that many hide it and so you're knowledge is substantially skewed). So maybe that's because of your high/squeaky-clean socio-economic class? No: imagine yourself in any class you care to. Unless that class is much, much larger than your "real" class, then it would have to have an astronomical…

Hi, I'm a long-time HN user, and I've been arrested.

(I also know lots of others who have.)

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'right to be forgotten' is impossible to enforce. We just need to be more forgiving.

It is possible to get local papers kicked out of Google search results for things like arrests that did not lead to a conviction [which honestly is a 90% solution]. 90% solutions are good enough.

That also sounds 90% good enough to make the media useless. A politician doesn't like an article about his corrupt behavior? Well, he wasn't convicted for anything in the article, so away it goes!

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#46

I find this frankly implausible. What percentage of people you know have been arrested? I'm guessing very small (even assuming that many hide it and so you're knowledge is substantially skewed). So maybe that's because of your high/squeaky-clean socio-economic class? No: imagine yourself in any class you care to. Unless that class is much, much larger than your "real" class, then it would have to have an astronomical…

I grew up in a mostly white, rural, middle class setting, and I would estimate that at least 25% of my male friends have been arrested. There are probably enough "other classes" (e.g. non-white, urban, or poor) that are sufficiently populous with sufficiently higher arrest rates that I don't have much difficulty believing the statistic.

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#47

I find this frankly implausible. What percentage of people you know have been arrested? I'm guessing very small (even assuming that many hide it and so you're knowledge is substantially skewed). So maybe that's because of your high/squeaky-clean socio-economic class? No: imagine yourself in any class you care to. Unless that class is much, much larger than your "real" class, then it would have to have an astronomical…

I agree. I come from a nice area, but I know maybe 10 people out of 2000 who have ever been arrested. And it was just underage drinking for them. Perhaps I live in a bubble, but this is suspiciously high

Yes, but there are vasts swaths of the country were arrest rates are much much higher than 10 out of 2000 people (not that they would all tell you anyway).

I understand living in a bubble.... but you are not at least aware of the vast scale of these areas? If not, you should drive around more in my opinion.

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#48
post #34
post #8

Clarification: over 40% of young men in the US have been arrested. (It is ambiguous whether "youths" refers to both sexes.) (It is also possible to interpret the headline as saying that 40% of all youths worldwide have been in the US at some point, during which they were arrested, but I doubt many people were confused by that.)

i did initially interpret it as "of all youth arrests worldwide, 40% take place in the usa", but realised the number was probably a bit high for that.

The current title says "Over 40% of all young men have been arrested in the USA". This can easily be interpreted as 40% of all young men in the whole world have been arrested in the USA. Instead, it should say "Over 40% of all young men in the USA have been arrested".

Re: Study: Half of black males, 40% of white males arrested by age 23

#50
post #2

Nearly half of black males and almost 40 percent of white males in the U.S. are arrested by age 23, which can hurt their ability to find work, go to school and participate fully in their communities. An arrest by itself, without an accompanying conviction, cannot be used to deny employment. 1. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest_conviction.cfm#I

On the other hand, if you have ever been arrested, even if not accused of anything, and you want to apply for citizenship or a green card in the US, then the burden is placed on you to get proof that you have never been accused of anything [1]. If you fail to provide such evidence (as can happen if you were arrested outside of the US and the police in that country aren't interested in cooperating), then the default presumption is one of guilt rather than innocence.

Edit: And in case it wasn't clear, failure to obtain a green card in the US can make it more difficult to find employment, as not all companies are eager to navigate immigration procedures on the behalf of their employees.

[1]: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-485ins... (page 3)

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