The TV series Numb3rs has highlighted how mathematics can play a role in solving crimes. Even though the episodes are sometimes rather fanciful, they still illustrate ways in which various types of math can help illuminate mysteries, confirm conjectures, and point to villains.
In real life, math can also be relevant in the courtroom or come up in legal disputes.
Last year, the Pythagorean theorem was a deciding factor in a case before the New York State Court of Appeals. A man named James Robbins was convicted of selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. In the appeal, his lawyers argued that Robbins wasn’t actually within the required distance when caught and so should not get the stiffer penalty that school proximity calls for.