Evaluating Bias in Expert Witness Conclusions of “Sexual Dangerousness,” Part I
Author: Daniel Kriegman, Ph.D..
Source: Volume 15, Number 04, June/July 2014 , pp.49-54(6)
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Abstract:
In this multipart article, the author argues that the bias of expert witnesses determining the sexual dangerousness of the majority of men reviewed, committed, and recommitted as sexually dangerous, because of crimes they supposedly would commit if released, is reckless and arbitrary. This article explains that, under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 123A, a sex offender can be temporarily committed in order to be examined by two “Qualified Examiners” (QEs) to determine if the offender is “sexually dangerous.”Keywords: “New Salem Witch Trials”; Adam Walsh Act; sex offense recidivism; Commonwealth v. Boucher; null hypothesis; chance phenomenon; Counting Recidivists, Not Offenses; stealth and multiple offenses; Reasonable Downward Adjustment to Overall Base Rate
Affiliations:
1: Massachusetts Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution.