O.

Are you too stupid to understand WTF a generalization is?

It is not inconsistent to say:
1. Blacks on average have a lower lung capacity than whites.
2. Some blacks have a much higher lung capacity than some whites.

Man, you're so fucking stupid. It's a good thing that breathing is an involuntary response. Otherwise, you'd be too stupid to figure out how to do it.

THIRD, HOMEY. leave AM100. come be a plaintiff's lawyer and make bank. NYC legal is done!!

This is a hot mess. It's also hysterical.

If the lung capacity of a black man is smaller than a white man, then why are blacks so more athletic? Or are those damn Kenyan's just white dudes in blackface?

I think Elie's posts are a series of logical-reasoning puzzles. The task is to find the logical fault in Elie's conclusion.

I got it!

The logical disconnect here is in assuming that what is generally true for a given population is true for an individual within the population. Your comparison of MJ and Dershowitz is irrelevant to the question that seems to have been addressed by the guy at Univ. of Wash, which is the average lung capacity of black men vs. white men. The fact that MJ's lungs likely have a significantly higher capacity proves nothing.

So while this evidence may not be as powerful as Mr. Ruane seems to think, it is certainly probative of the accuracy of the machine.

As an aside, it's not crazy or racist to allow that there may be physiological differences between populations. Certain populations get sickle-cell disease at higher rates, while others contract breast cancer much more often. You're discounting this evidence through an emotional knee-jerk reaction, not through any substantive criticism of the findings.

I know he breathes because I can hear it when he returns from runs to the vending machine.

I thought that one of the physiological characteristics of black people was a larger lung capacity, which is the reason so many of them excel in athletics. Its tied in with how Africans evolved in a separate and distinct climate than Europeans.

I know he breathes because I can hear it when he returns from runs to the vending machine.

9 = Jimmy the Greek

9 = Jimmy the Greek

This is not true. I used to toke up with my black friend from FCU back when we were applying for SCOTUS clerkships (just barely missed out), and he would always bogart the whole freaking thing in one puff.

3 (and others) - Save the overinflated hatred of Elie to your vapid minds. Fine, you don't like his writing "style" or posts. Quite frankly, I'm surprised anyone would have such strong opinions about them either way. But really, get a life... and something worth being that angry about. I'm sick of wasting my time reading your garbage. But I suppose that's my fault. And don't bother replying because I don't plan on caring about your overthought out retorts.

Do you really need a breathalizer test to tell you that black people are always drunk? What a stupid gizmo.

9 = Jimmy the Greek

"Asians are on average shorter than blacks.
But that can't be right since Yao Ming is so tall. Ergo, there are no differences in height between Asians and blacks. The research that Asians are shorter must be 'crackpot science.' "
~Elie's 160 LSAT logic

3% difference in lung capacity would explain the difference between 0.079 and 0.081, not 0.80 and 0.188. He'd also have to prove that blacks were we excluded from the data that led to deciding on 0.08 as the legal limit.

Elie- this isn't totally off the wall. If a woman argued the same thing no one would call BS on it. If there is legitimate scientific evidence that this is true then I don't think it's wrong for a lawyer to use it to try to get his client out of it.

If Elie had come out in support of Ruane, you'd say he was a fat, angry, racist black Panther. Since he didn't, you say he's fat and stupid. Either way he loses.

Elie, stop trying to please these bored idiots. They're all just waiting to be made redundant.

MOORECLOPS

Jimmy Ruane has a billboard on I-95 in Bridgeport, CT. His number is 1-800-NOT DRUNK. No joke.

14 is definitely Mystal. The dead giveaway: "I don't plan on caring about your overthought out retorts."

Yeah, there is definitely something wrong with thinking before retorting. We should just type without thinking, like 14/Mystal.

You people, especially 3, need to stop trying to justify a dumb argument.

Smoking pot decreases lung capacity.

All black people smoke pot.

LOGICAL DEDUCTION: test is racist.

Skinny losers, crack smokers, asthma patients, coal miners, chemical plant employees, NYC residents, people who once tried to commit suicide via car exhaust, and women who wear corsets all have a scientifically provable lower lung capacity, too.

So shall we throw out all their breathalyzer results?

Science purporting to describe racial differences is never ok. The only difference between races is skin color--it is the only thing that evolved differently after people left Africa. This should not be admitted.

Ruane has tried to take on the Intoxilyzer before with all sorts of silly filings. It never works. He's an idiot.

17

That made me laugh

Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking drunk drivers on our motherfucking roads!

27, I agree. For the purposes of political correctness we need to apply the test for sickle-cell anemia to everyone, even though the test on white people is a waste of money.

I think Elie has a bad case of Vlasick's Pickle Cell Anemia.

Did anyone else notice that this guy's BAL was 0.188? More than twice the limit? Its not as if he was kinda close or maybe a slight miscalibration in the machine made the difference.

I doubt they would even need BAL evidence to convict someone that drunk, he was probably barfing on the arresting officer's shoes.

33 is right on the point. The court should feel free to give him the 3% average lung size difference -- he's still way over the limit. Somehow, I doubt the machine overestimates how drunk blacks are by over 50%. This doesn't exactly seem like the right test case even if the breathalyzers are somewhat inaccurate.

That's not even how the breathalyzer works. The machine measures the BAC based on breath. As long as there is a sample, it measures the BAC. It has nothing to do with lung capacity (or race/gender/sexual orientation or whether one wears a crew neck t-shirt under the button down work shirt).

This is just more proof that we need affirmative action to level the lung capacity playing field.

Er, correction, over 100%. Even worse.

What's a black jew, daddy?

Why its a Blew, son. everyone knows that. now run along you little scamp, its almost time for bed.

Excerpted from Tom Tucker's Book "The Hibbidy with the Dibbity."

is this more or less racist than the lsat?

-nervous T-10 1L
email job leads to nervoust101l@yahoo.com

MysTTTal, the only thing discriminating against you is the 300lbs you've gained thanks to Frito Lay.

3 & 7-
Does the same apply to the differences in intelligence? I tried this argument when advocating an increase in our URM affirmative action program but it didn't meet the positive reception I thought it would.
-Dean Kagan

This type of thing has been around for a while. For example, a lot of people contend that many cameras and camcorders are "racist" b/c their automatic focus setting is optimized for white faces and not black faces. Therefore, African Americans tend to appear "dark" while crackers are lit optimally.

Just for the record, Elie = dumbass.

ok, but as a biglaw lawyer, all i care about is my bonus. will S&C match skadden?

32- I lulzed

Hi Science, my name's Law, have we met?

I posted a while back noting that Elie has real trouble with statistics. This confirms it.

From his inability to understand the flaws in those in those gender-pay gap studies, to his confusion about the difference between avergages and individual cases, he consistently shows that he doesn't have even a basic understanding of statistical reasoning.

I posted a while back noting that Elie has real trouble with statistics. This confirms it.

From his inability to understand the flaws in those in those gender-pay gap studies, to his confusion about the difference between avergages and individual cases, he consistently shows that he doesn't have even a basic understanding of statistical reasoning.

I am an associate at Baker McKenzie and the firm has just matched the bonuses announced by Cravath.

Sullivan & Cromwell has just issued Skadden-esque bonuses. Memo to follow.

I am an associate at Kirkland & Ellis and the firm has just matched the bonuses announced by Cravath.

Breathalyzer tests are racist because, as studies consistently show, vodka, whiskey and appletinis produce burps that are on average 30% less pungent than those produced by Olde English 800 and St. Ides Special Brew.

wow this guy went to a t50 school...

all you white-ivy league-never-leave-my-big-firm-office-in-my-nifty-business-casual-clothes should stop by a real courtroom to see how this really works (the SDNY does not count). In a depressed town like Bridgeport, where minorities are routinely stopped by the mostly white police force--guess what, judges tend to like these types of arguments, regardless of whether your crim procedure books say it's a viable defense.

Right 53, the real courtrooms are where Jim "the Hammer" Shapiro moonlights as a Justice of the Peace. SDNY is for the birds.

53- you're post is an argument against elected judges, manumission, and democracy

53- your post is an argument against elected judges, manumission, and democracy

53- your post is an argument against elected judges, manumission, and democracy

Did any firms really announce?

When Elie said "Mmm ... blanket generalizations about an entire people. I wonder what Michael Jordan's lung capacity is as compared to Alan Dershowitz?" I think he was referring to "...determined the Intoxilyzer 5000 does not effectively test the blood-alcohol content of black men", and not to the fact about lung capacity.
He was not saying that the 3% statistic is false, he was pointing out that it's pretty meaningless given the variation between individuals and calling into question the Dr.'s blanket statement that it doesn't accurately test BAC. Both valid points.
You should think things through before calling someone stupid.

nervous T10 1L is no Loyola 2L

33 = lightweight

59 - no, that's not the case. If you were going to object to the argument by claiming that the breathalyzer has already taken into account the wide variation in individual lung capacity, then say so.

Elie objected to the statistic itself - not its application to the breathalyzer issue. He has a long history of misunderstanding statistics.

S&C really announced, and they are matching Skadden (mostly).

I love how ATL trolls are being forced to pick between either defending this stupid argument about the breathalyzer OR defending the hated Mystal

Great, now the blacks want affirmative action for the breathalyzer test.

Elie, writing in the first person in a blog post that has nothing to do with you is undignified. Please resign from ATL; you are unworthy.

"Brown is African American"

I've been complaining about racist breathalysers for years its good to hear it getting some air time.

I have some additional complaints. Including the idolization of racists in the media (for example Flipper was also a racist dolphin, and Lassi a racist collie).

Additionally, I used a racist condom (which discriminated against my much larger than average wang and failed to prevent a pregnancy) back in '95 and shouldn't have to pay child support.

I also have been discriminated back in '76 against due to a racist comb that got stuck in my afro and I had to cut it out. This caused me great emotional distress as I had an afro with a chunk missing; eventually, leading me to try out a jheri curl.

My cell phone is racist too because its designed for Japanese people's fingers and not mine. It has caused me to misdial repeatedly.

This is actually not the worst Breathalyzer legal situation in Connecticut!!!

Here in New London, in response to complaints from local businesses regarding a homeless shelter in the basement of a church; a few anecdotal charges of drunk homeless people affecting their businesses (the lead lead complainant was a funeral home - no seriously) - the City Council in a snap decision, discussed only briefly in full session, only those already in attendance able to speak to the issue; then huddled in the corner during recess, came back back and instituted MANDATORY BREATHALYSER TESTS to anyone seeking to enter the shelter. Making peaceful sober people submit to further indignity by taking a breathalyser or be turned away at the door.

Further, a New York district court ruled a few years back that a municipality has no jurisdiction over a church who chooses to allow homeless people to seek refuge on its property as a free expression of their religious beliefs and values.

But the fascist New London City Council waived legal review, passed laws it wasn't entitled to pass and threatened legal ramifications if the shelter and church didn't comply.

Damn, they just had to figure it out. The breathalyzer was designed by the national society of tall white guys. Because... you know... on average, tall people have bigger lungs than short people. Guys have bigger lungs than girls. People have bigger lungs than gerbals. So in addition to being a tool of my racism, it also is heightist, genderist, speciesist and assuming all jewish guys look like Jon Stewart, anti-semetic. Special thanks to (the short) Tom Cruise for taking one for the white guy team though. We gotta keep everyone guessing.

Sorry, 69. This is worse.

FIrst.

me - white male
my generalization -

in general blacks are better athletes than white.
but john daly is a better athlete than clarence thomas

How does lung capacity affect the blood-alcohol reading of the Intoxilyzer 5000? Doesn't everyone have a different lung capacity?

If results differ depending on lung capacity, and everyone has a different lung capacity, this device is useless.

In fact, ability to function under the influence of alcohol also varies by individual. Let's get rid of these silly devices and make people walk the line again.

In the small town in Connecticut in which I live, the high school have the local pd breathalize all of the students before permitting them to attend the prom or any other school dance. Not aproblem as we only have six black kids in the high school - most of whome are athletes brought in from other less advantaged communities to oestensibley give them a better eduction, but in reality to deal witht he fact that the whoite kids aren't big enough to play football. I assume these kids don't have a 3% smaller on average lung capacity.

Nothing should surprise you about Connecticut.

If the glove don't fit you must acquit!

No, the lawyer got it all wrong. It wasn't the machine that was racist, it was the digtial NUMBERS on the machine that were racist. Geez.

This is great precedent.

Prosecutor: Is it true, sir that the police caught you with a dimebag of marijuana?

Defendent: Mannnn, that marijuana was racist!

Jury: Not guilty.

This is great precedent.

Prosecutor: Is it true, sir that the police caught you with a dimebag of marijuana?

Defendent: Mannnn, that marijuana was racist!

Jury: Not guilty.

78 = a fool.

Marijuana doesn't come in dimebags.