The ratio of guilty acquitted to innocents convicted encodes a theory of error costs

Evidence

Fortescue, Blackstone, and Starkie were all expressing the same principle, but the differences among ten to one, twenty to one, and ninety-nine to one reflect different views about the comparative harms of the two types of errors. — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 777

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Blackstone ratio and burden-of-proof quantification discussed at location 780. — connects to: Legal reasoning yields probability rather than absolute mathematical truths — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 242; The formal principle of justice requires treating relevantly similar cases alike — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 418; Unequal legal representation raises the risk of convicting the innocent. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 722

Broader Connections

• Legal reasoning yields probability rather than absolute mathematical truths #expands (0.55) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 242
• The formal principle of justice requires treating relevantly similar cases alike #expands (0.50) — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 418