of the dramatically anti-science attitude in the US:
The Science of Injustice
Capital murder case highlights Texas courts’ resistance to physical evidence
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2011-08-19/the-science-of-injustice/
This amuses me (in a very dark way) the most:
‘Delmore and the Montgomery County D.A.’s Office appear to stand firmly with the Court of Criminal Appeals, or at least with Judge Cathy Cochran, who in a 2009 opinion wrote that the science could not explain the circumstances lending weight to Swearingen’s guilt. “The hallmark of a scientifically sound hypothesis is that it is consistent with, and accounts for, the totality of the known facts,” Cochran wrote. “If Melissa did not die until December 29th, where was she and what was she doing from her disappearance … until 21 days later?” she continued. “When all of the other known facts and evidence are wholly inconsistent with a particular scientific hypothesis, the reasonably objective scientist revisits that original hypothesis, looking for a flaw. Although one does not doubt the honesty and sincerity of these medical examiners, their theory that Melissa did not die until December 29th or 30th because of the relatively intact state of some of her internal organs is flatly contradicted by an incredible wealth of other evidence. They have made no attempt to account for or explain this other evidence or provide an alternate hypothesis.”‘
Clearly, this judge, doesn’t know what ‘facts’ are. Circumstantial evidence (the entirety of this case) is not ‘fact’ and no amount of such evidence can possibly trump any single true fact. If we continue along this path too much longer we will start to suffer what Germany under Hitler and China under Mao did: persecution of the educated, intellectual ‘elite’. Unless we start to see a reverse in this trend (I am not terribly optimistic), then people who think intelligence, education and ‘facts’ are important should be looking for someplace else to live.
