Talk:Kenneth Lawson

Latest comment: 2 years ago by A. C. Santacruz in topic GA Review

Did you know nomination edit

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Theleekycauldron (talk) 21:37, 21 October 2021 (UTC)Reply

Created by Ezlev (talk). Self-nominated at 05:18, 30 September 2021 (UTC).Reply

General: Article is new enough and long enough

Policy compliance:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
  • Cited:   - Offline/paywalled citation accepted in good faith
  • Interesting:  
QPQ: Done.

Overall:   "He stated in 2019 that he was a tenure-track faculty member;" You should be able to confirm this with an official source rather than rely on Lawson's statement. (t · c) buidhe 05:57, 30 September 2021 (UTC)Reply

Buidhe, I agree, I should be! Unfortunately, I don't think I can. I've removed the statement from the lede. It's clearly attributed in the body but I'll remove it there as well if you feel that's necessary. ezlev (user/tlk/ctrbs) 06:15, 30 September 2021 (UTC)Reply
I've also added a citation to the paragraph that was missing one. ezlev (user/tlk/ctrbs) 06:18, 30 September 2021 (UTC)Reply
I have no objection to that. Looks like the article would be OK for DYK except Mccapra has placed a notability tag on it. Notability issues should be resolved before this can be passed. (t · c) buidhe 06:38, 30 September 2021 (UTC)Reply
Thanks, Buidhe! I believe notability is established, but will happily add some more information and sources to the article if Mccapra disagrees. That won’t happen ‘till tomorrow, though. ezlev (user/tlk/ctrbs) 06:47, 30 September 2021 (UTC)Reply
Buidhe, I've added sources and removed the tag, and the page has been reviewed by another reviewer. ezlev (user/tlk/ctrbs) 19:09, 30 September 2021 (UTC)Reply
buidhe? theleekycauldron (talkcontribs) (they/them) 19:56, 18 October 2021 (UTC)Reply
It's already approved and if there are no further notability disputes I don't see any barrier to promotion. (t · c) buidhe 20:02, 18 October 2021 (UTC)Reply
To T:DYK/P2

GA Review edit

This review is transcluded from Talk:Kenneth Lawson/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: A. C. Santacruz (talk · contribs) 19:39, 12 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

GA review
(see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose, spelling, and grammar):  
    b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):  
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references):  
    b (citations to reliable sources):  
    c (OR):  
    d (copyvio and plagiarism):  
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects):  
    b (focused):  
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:  
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars, etc.:  
  6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales):  
    b (appropriate use with suitable captions):  

Overall:
Pass/Fail:  

  ·   ·   ·  

Comments edit

  • Noting here that a large majority of sources are self-published accounts by the subject of the page. I'll consider that at a later point in the review (I tend to do a deep review of prose and grammar first).
  • I'll be adding {{cn}} tags where I think citations are needed.
    • Thank you for reviewing this article, A. C. Santacruz! Can you help me understand your use of citation needed tags? Do you mean that the tagged sentences are unsourced, or that they're sourced but should have their own inline citation to the source (i.e. the citation is on the next sentence and you want me to add another one)? Or something different? ezlev (user/tlk/ctrbs) 20:16, 14 February 2022 (UTC)Reply
    The sentences need to have a source for the statements made. My expectation is that they're source but need their own inline citation. For example, information regarding his birth and mother (e.g. mental illness, prostitution) are quite serious things to say about a person and we must take special care to make sure all those sentences are cited. Hope this helps, ezlev. I'll continue the review in a few days as I'm recovering from a surgery so I can't super think straight :P A. C. SantacruzPlease ping me! 12:41, 15 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Lead edit

  • Kenneth L. Lawson (born 1963) is the co-director of the Hawai'i Innocence Project and a faculty specialist at the William S. Richardson School of Law. I'd add "former attorney" here (e.g. [...] is the co-director of x, a faculty specialist at y, and a former attorney).
    • Done
  • He teaches courses on subjects including criminal procedure, criminal law, and professional responsibility. I'd remove this from the lead paragraph and move it later in the lead.
    • Moved to last paragraph of lead
  • I'd remove this from the lead paragraph, as I generally don't see the point in quotes for what should be a short, encyclopedic description of the subject. No comments yet on including it elsewhere in the lead.
    • Moved to last paragraph of lead

I'll add more comments on the lead after I finish reviewing the rest of the article A. C. SantacruzPlease ping me! 20:34, 12 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Early life and education edit

  • The couple named him Kenneth Levon Lawson, and he grew up knowing that he had been adopted. Why is this sentence necessary?
    • Removed
  • His mother Etta told him that he should be a lawyer when he grew up. Why is this sentence necessary here?
    • Removed
  • He met Marva, who would become his wife, while at the school; she was a cheerleader. I'd reword this as "He met his future wife Marva at the school." Her being a cheerleader is unnecessary detail.
    • Changed
  • He returned to Cincinnati and was considering joining the Air Force when he learned that he had qualified for financial aid[1] or was allowed to return on probation[3] and resumed college at Wittenberg, where Marva joined him after the birth of their first child. I'd split this sentence into two, as it is quite long and has many clauses. For example: "He returned to Cincinnati and was considering joining the Air Force when he learned that he had qualified for financial aid[1] or was allowed to return on probation[3]. Lawson then resumed college at Wittenberg and was joined by Marva after the birth of their first child."
    • Changed
  • Lawson discovered that Angelo had named him Anthony Angelo. Why is this sentence necessary?
    • I mean, it's technically his birth name, but I guess it's not really relevant? Removed
  • He learned that her uncle hand broken her clavicle because she was associating with a Black man, [...] What does this mean?
    • Wow, that would've been a badly written sentence even without the typo. I rewrote it – better?
  • Lawson was with his biological mother when she died of cancer in 1993. Why is this sentence necessary?
    • Removed

Law practice edit

  • His stationery at the practice had images of Rottweilers, and he occasionally wore large hoop earrings to court. Is this DUE?
    • I mean, I like the imagery of it, but... maybe not. Removed
  • George Lawson was 31 when he died; Why is this necessary to know?
    • It isn't. Removed
  • I've added some cn tags.
    • Addressed
  • Lawson spoke to the class about his experiences, receiving a standing ovation from the students; one student reached out to the state lawyer assistance program later that day. I'd remove this.
    • Removed

Misc. comments edit

  • The article currently overwhelmingly relies on primary sources by the subject of the article. Other sources should be sought, especially for contentious aspects of his life (such as the letter sent by the police layer) to make the article more balanced.
    • I'm not sure there are more sources out there. Removing some of the primary-sourced details is probably possible and could be another avenue toward balance, if you think that's a good idea? They might be undue anyway
      • I would support removing some of the primary source details in that case to bring it closer to balance as if secondary RS are not mentioning them often they're probably on the UNDUE side. I'll leave it to your discretion on what is least necessary to keep. Sorry for the late reply, Ezlev! Please ping me in the future to make sure I respond. A. C. SantacruzPlease ping me! 20:09, 17 April 2022 (UTC)Reply
  • Would be very nice if you could find images of him, although this is not strictly necessary for a GA.
    • I tried to get a photo from Lawson a while ago and was unsuccessful – trouble on his end with copyright requirements and the upload process. I'll double-check newspaper sources for any copyright loopholes but I think we're probably out of luck for images.
  • Copyvio Toolforge indicates unlikely plagiarism.
  • There needs to be sources that aren't Lawson himself stating he was employed by the law school.

Status query edit

A. C. Santacruz, Ezlev, where does this nomination stand? It appears that there is more of the article to review, and two edits have been made to address issues raised in the review so far. Thank you. BlueMoonset (talk) 01:51, 16 March 2022 (UTC)Reply

BlueMoonset, mb, I forgot to follow up with more comments. I'll add them now. A. C. SantacruzPlease ping me! 16:03, 17 March 2022 (UTC)Reply