We have blogged before, here, about the emerging science that is allowing judges to better predict a defendant’s likelihood of reoffending to determine parole, probation, and release pending trial.  Science is now replacing what had been based on instinct and gut reactions by judges.  To no one’s surprise, prior convictions do matter in the science of judges’ determinations of likelihood of reoffending.  The most recent story on this subject is from the Wall Street Journal, Judges turn to risk evaluation tools in sentencing decisions