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Newspaper "study" of Florida's no-retreat law

The Tampa Bay Times publishes "Race Plays Complex Role in Florida 'stand your ground' Law." Good grief! They start with 200 cases, with no controlling for variables (e.g., did the defender have a record, were they a good witness, etc., etc.) and try to draw conclusions, such as "people who killed a black person walked free 73 percent of the time, while those who killed a white person went free 59 percent of the time," suggesting an unconscious racial bias.

But wait a minute... self-defensive homicides, like homicides in general, usually involve two people of the same ethnicity. So if people who killed a black person were acquitted more often, that means ... black self-defenders were acquitted more often. The article goes on to note that when the statute was invoked, whites and blacks were charged at the same rate and convicted at the same rate. And ...

"In mixed-race cases involving fatalities, the outcomes were similar. Four of the five blacks who killed a white went free; five of the six whites who killed a black went free."

and

"Overall, black defendants went free 66 percent of the time in fatal cases compared to 61 percent for white defendants..."

But even the higher acquittal rate for blacks must prove racial bias, because it is "a difference explained, in part, by the fact blacks were more likely to kill another black." Yet the article began by claiming a higher conviction rate for blacks, and suggesting that proved racial bias. (The article does not explain why it gives two different sets of figures). So, indeed, whether the conviction rate for blacks is higher, or lower, either proves racial bias!