Ep. 161: The Real Life Implications of Pop Culture's Fascination with the Dubious Science of “Criminal Profiling”

As to the different explicit rules now for Aristos v. the worthless plebian hoi polloi, Ian Welsh gets it right here (warning-- this may take up to 5 minutes to read if you have no attention span for reading)-- https://www.ianwelsh.net/the-democratic-bargain-abortion-and-responsibility/ Yeah, the axiom that "the members of an aristocratic oligarchy don't suffer what they inflict" is axiomatic, & nobody should be surprised that the WaPo lanyard bedwetters enthusiastically affirm that sterling tradition.

Mark Schneider

As a public defender, I loved the episode. Unfortunately, I feel compelled to share a depressing comment about the treatment of those charged with stealing baby formula: There is a common (and nefariously misguided) belief among prosecutors that baby formula is stolen for drug dealers to cut drugs. There are various theories I'm forced to contend with, such as (1) it looks the same, (2) it's "safe", and (3) "criminals" believe getting caught with baby formula instead of other additives will throw off suspicion (i.e. the "soup for my family" argument). This has turned into a default presumption that allows prosecutors and judges to immediately sidestep the more obvious likelihood that the person they want to punish was trying to feed her kid. Of course, none of that makes sense. I've watched hundreds of hours of body cam and seen numerous photos of busts. I've yet to see baby formula anywhere it wouldn't normally be. It's also incredible for prosecutors to argue someone would sell fentanyl or other drugs but also insist on an FDA approved additive meant to soothe the sensitive stomachs of colicky babies. Note that I've yet to see an intent to sell charge associated with a petit larceny charge. They just assume there was a phantom dealer out there waiting for the drop. I'm bracing myself for a comment connecting the current baby formula shortage with drug dealers. Smfh.

John Brown did nothing wrong

Excellent episode. I can’t decide if I should use what I have learned to get struck from a jury or get on the jury and then use it to undermine a conviction.

Jeannette

I used to be a criminal justice major my first two years of community college, one of the big reasons i was interested in criminology was criminal minds. when I sat down with the head of the dept at my future college, I quickly realized I was actually just a cop. idk why my brain didn't put it together before. I didn't last much longer after I told them I wasn't interested in police work, just analyzing criminal behavior lol

natfos 💌

i know what they are, and i'm also not goin g to stop watching my stories!

Robert Granniss

loved the episode! though I do have one critique that might be a good choice for a sequel, spiritual or otherwise, which is the way that crime shows and often crime discourse in general makes social outcasts and vulnerable people into criminals. in this episode you focused on race which is probably the biggest one of course, but the clips you played from various shows and movies associated being a serial killer with being schizophrenic or trans--and that sort of ableism and transphobia is all too common. both people with mental illnesses and trans people are of course way more likely to be victims than perpetrators--and its especially awful in the former case, as schizophrenia in particular gets made out to be this source of evil when in reality most people with schizophrenia aren't a danger to anyone and are simply trying to live their lives and manage the serious disability of psychosis.