On 12/4/05, JAY JG jayjg@hotmail.com wrote:
I've been have a months-long debate with another editor on this topic. I've been stating that we include people in "Criminals" categories if they have been convicted of a crime by an independent judiciary. The other editor insists that we have to decide (by some means) whether or not they have actually committed a crime, conviction is not enough a good enough yardstick. I'd be interested in other thoughts here.
Jay, it would be original research to claim that someone is a "criminal" even though they haven't been convicted. Committing a crime is not just the apparent performance of a prohibited act, but is also (usually) connected to the actor's state of mind at the time, something a court rules on based on the available evidence. Wikipedia editors are not in a position to judge what a court would have ruled, no matter how obvious the case might seem (e.g. a public figure admitting they once stole something from a store).
Sarah