Patterico's Pontifications

5/29/2006

The Power of the Jump™: Women “Routinely” Serve More Time Than Men in L.A. County Jail — Except, That Is, When They Don’t

Filed under: Crime,Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 11:23 am



(Note: “The Power of the Jump”™ is a semi-regular feature of this site, documenting examples of the Los Angeles Times’s use of its back pages to hide information that its editors don’t want you to see.)

The L.A. Times says in a front-page article:

Under its policy of selectively releasing criminals to ease jail overcrowding, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has routinely forced women, prostitutes arrested in Compton and certain gang members to serve more time than others convicted of identical crimes.

So women have “routinely” been forced to serve more time than men, eh? That certainly is a dramatic revelation. But guess what? When you turn to the back pages, you learn that men have also “routinely” been forced to serve more time than women. And, you find, men and women now “routinely” serve the same percentage of their sentences. It all depends on available space, and what period of time you look at. Let’s look at the details, which are set forth on Page A14:

Over the years, the Sheriff’s Department has maintained different release policies for men and women, even for those convicted of the same crimes.

Male and female inmates are housed in separate jail sections, and sheriff’s officials said their release policies are based on the amount of space available and fluctuations in arrests.

Two years ago, women convicted of all but the most serious crimes were released immediately, serving none of their sentences. But in the last year, the department required women convicted of assault to serve 25% of their sentences while men served just 10%.

Klugman said he changed the policy earlier this month. Men and women now are eligible for release after serving 10% of their time.

So: two years ago, women served less (actually, no) time. One year ago, they served more, based on available space. And now, they serve the same. And this situation is portrayed on the front page as women “routinely” being forced to serve more time than men.

I guess that sounds more dramatic than:

Under its policy of selectively releasing criminals to ease jail overcrowding, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has at times routinely forced women to serve more time than men, and at other times routinely forced men to serve more time than women. And currently, men and women serve the same amount of time. Routinely.

In an unrelated front-page story, the paper reports that roulette wheels routinely come up black. On Page A14, the caveat is added: except when they come up red.

11 Responses to “The Power of the Jump™: Women “Routinely” Serve More Time Than Men in L.A. County Jail — Except, That Is, When They Don’t”

  1. We could play that game all day. I go to the grocery store every day (jump) except when I don’t. Sheesh.

    This is called “creating a newsworthy story where there isn’t one.”

    Paul (c169e9)

  2. Or when the roulette balls land on zero!

    Andy (78d9f2)

  3. It should also be noted that frequently, the color red in place of color black is ‘routinely’ displayed on the roulette wheel.

    Grouer (46102d)

  4. We all know, of course, that it’s sexist to require women to serve the same sentences as men. Women have super-equal rights, so when they’re violated that deserves front-page news coverage.

    Bob Smith (d57802)

  5. The LAT routinely fudges statistics and reports it as “news” to advance its agenda.

    Perfect Sense (024110)

  6. Why in the world do these idiots do this? Don’t even they know by now that people aren’t falling for it and that others like Patterico are watching them?

    I mean you simply cannot take anything – anything – they say at face value. Every single thing they report has to be verified before it can be believed.

    Jeez man how st00pid can they be?

    Dwilkers (a1687a)

  7. […] “The Power of the Jump”™ was featured in two posts this weekend. One was about the L.A. Times’s decision to highlight the fact that women “routinely” serve more time in jail under the L.A. County Sheriff’s early release policy. On the back pages, we learn that men have also “routinely” served more time as well. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » Weekend Roundup, Sort Of (421107)

  8. They’re going for the Oprah demographic, I guess. “OH, those poor women…sometimes.”

    Patricia (2cc180)

  9. I mean you simply cannot take anything – anything – they say at face value. Every single thing they report has to be verified before it can be believed.

    Jeez man how st00pid can they be?

    Right Dwikers, even FOX News has their bad days too:
    http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/05/31.html#a8514

    Psyberian (dd13d6)

  10. More Jail Time for Women than Men?

    L.A. County is out of jail space. The sheriff is therefore releasing some inmates though they’ve served less than 10% of their sentences. …

    The Volokh Conspiracy (fa8fba)

  11. […] Eugene Volokh has a more detailed analysis of the constitutional questions of gender inequality raised by the selective early release policy at the L.A. County jail (discussed here the other day). […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » More on the Gender Issues Raised by the L.A. County Jail Early Release Policy (421107)


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