“Three men doing time in Israeli prisons recently appeared before a parole board consisting of a judge, a criminologist and a social worker.
“The three prisoners had completed at least two-thirds of their sentences, but the parole board granted freedom to only one of them. Guess which one:
“Case 1 (heard at 8:50 a.m.): An Arab Israeli serving a 30-month sentence for fraud.
“Case 2 (heard at 3:10 p.m.): A Jewish Israeli serving a 16-month sentence for assault.
“Case 3 (heard at 4:25 p.m.): An Arab Israeli serving a 30-month sentence for fraud.
“There was a pattern to the parole board’s decisions, but it wasn’t related to the men’s ethnic backgrounds, crimes or sentences.
“It was all about timing, as researchers discovered by analyzing more than 1,100 decisions over the course of a year.”
Read more at NY Times
