Many oppose the use of profile evidence against defendants at trial, even when the statistical correlations are reliable and the jury is free from prejudice. The literature has struggled to justify this opposition. We argue that admitting profile evidence is objectionable because it violates what we call “equal protection”—that is, a right of innocent defendants not to be exposed to higher ex ante risks of mistaken conviction compared to other innocent defendants facing similar charges. We also show why admitting other forms of evidence, such as eyewitness, trace, and motive evidence, does not violate equal protection.

中文翻译：

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剖析证据、公平性和误判风险

许多人反对在审判中使用针对被告的个人证据，即使统计相关性是可靠的并且陪审团没有偏见。文献一直在努力为这种反对辩护。我们认为，承认个人资料是令人反感的，因为它违反了我们所说的“平等保护”——也就是说，与面临类似指控的其他无辜被告相比，无辜被告人不享有更高的事前误判风险的权利。我们还说明了为什么承认其他形式的证据，例如目击者、踪迹和动机证据，不会违反平等保护。