Scott summarizes and responds to reader comments on his prison effectiveness analysis, covering topics like criminal psychology, policing, El Salvador's crime reduction, probation issues, and proposed alternatives to imprisonment. Longer summary

This post summarizes and responds to reader comments on Scott's previous analysis of prison effectiveness, covering several key areas. Commenters discuss criminal psychology and the role of time discounting, policing practices and staffing challenges, the timeline of El Salvador's crime reduction, issues with probation as an alternative to prison, and various proposed solutions. Scott particularly engages with comments about whether his analysis missed important factors like in-prison crime and eugenic effects, and reflects on the moral philosophy of punishing criminals. Shorter summary

A collection of interesting links covering topics from ancient Roman demographics to modern AI developments, criminal justice issues, and cultural oddities. Longer summary

This is a links post collecting various interesting news and articles. Topics include ancient Roman life expectancy data, Chinese censorship expanding to group chats, cruise ship pollution, AI developments like AlphaGo Zero, criminal justice issues around drug rehab work camps and police body cameras, and various other scientific, technological and cultural items. The post maintains a light tone while covering both serious topics like Puerto Rico's ongoing crisis and quirky ones like Viking reenactors and Halloween costumes. Shorter summary

A collection of interesting links covering recent research, controversies, and developments across various fields including science, economics, politics and sociology, with Scott's brief commentary on each. Longer summary

This is a link roundup post covering various topics and recent research findings. Scott shares interesting links about economics, science, politics, and sociology. The post includes studies on racial bias in policing, diet soda effects, mass shootings statistics, refugee integration in Sweden, and various other topics. He also discusses controversial topics like cultural appropriation and gun control debates, while maintaining a balanced and analytical perspective. The format follows Scott's typical style of providing brief commentary and context for each link shared. Shorter summary

Scott examines evidence for racial bias in the US criminal justice system, finding some bias in certain areas but not others, and concluding that claims of pervasive racism are overstated. Longer summary

This post analyzes racial bias in the US criminal justice system, reviewing studies on various aspects like police stops, arrests, prosecutions, and sentencing. Scott finds evidence of racial bias in some areas (e.g. capital punishment, sentence length) but little or no bias in others (e.g. arrests for violent crimes, prosecutions). He concludes that while there is some racial bias, claims of pervasive systemic racism are overstated. However, he notes that even without explicit bias, the system can still disproportionately harm black people through indirect means like drug laws or poverty-related factors. Shorter summary