Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Grits for Breakfast

Criminal Law

: Grits for Breakfast

Phony statistic on pregnant teens clouds YFZ Ranch debate

Mark Twain famously said that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can tie its shoes, and ample proof of that may be discovered by analyzing the claim from the Texas Department of Family Protective Services that 31 of 53 teens found on the YFZ Ranch were pregnant or had children, even though in court the agency only claimed five teens were discovered who fit that description.This statistic is still being used in the mainstream press even though a cursory interrogation shows it's probably false. Yesterday on the Dallas News' opinion blog, Sharon Grigsby cited the 31 of 53 statistic as a primary reason their editorial board hasn't criticized the state's handling of the case.At the original 14-day hearing, CPS said it had found five underage mothers, though several of those were disputed by their lawyers...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on May 14, 2008 (boomark / email).