What belongs here

[Hayford Peirce]

MJN wrote:

Quote
Sergeant Trent Aistrope was the first US Air Force GI to be court martialed in Afghanistan -- for stealing $1500 from a wallet he found.  I started an article on him.  http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Trent_A._Aistrope


Wouldn't making an article, for all of the future history to see, about a guy who was arrested for stealing $1500 be considered cruel and unusual punishment.  You would be punishing him for all generations.  Therefore, there should not be an article by this guy by this name.

There should be an article called "Afganistan court martials".  In that it would include the murders as well as the stealing, and could also include comparisons of punishments.  Personally, I think that the guy's name should be changed to protect him, considering that this will be for all time, but others may disagree.  The guy's exact name is not important.  What is important is the court martial cases and the relative punishments.

mjn

[Hayford Peirce]

Howard Berkowitz wrote:
Quote from: mjn on Today at 03:15:35 PM
Quote
Sergeant Trent Aistrope was the first US Air Force GI to be court martialed in Afghanistan -- for stealing $1500 from a wallet he found.  I started an article on him.  http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Trent_A._Aistrope


Wouldn't making an article, for all of the future history to see, about a guy who was arrested for stealing $1500 be considered cruel and unusual punishment.  You would be punishing him for all generations.  Therefore, there should not be an article by this guy by this name.

There should be an article called "Afganistan court martials".  In that it would include the murders as well as the stealing, and could also include comparisons of punishments.  Personally, I think that the guy's name should be changed to protect him, considering that this will be for all time, but others may disagree.  The guy's exact name is not important.  What is important is the court martial cases and the relative punishments.

mjn


The particular example you cite, I'm afraid, came from a series of articles that, taken as a group, seemed intent on focusing on the misdeeds of the George W. Bush Administration rather than the substance of the issues of war and military justice in general. We're working on that sort of neutrality issue.

[Matt Innis]

MJN wrote:

Quote
Sergeant Trent Aistrope was the first US Air Force GI to be court martialed in Afghanistan -- for stealing $1500 from a wallet he found.  I started an article on him.  http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Trent_A._Aistrope


Wouldn't making an article, for all of the future history to see, about a guy who was arrested for stealing $1500 be considered cruel and unusual punishment.  You would be punishing him for all generations.  Therefore, there should not be an article by this guy by this name.

There should be an article called "Afganistan court martials".  In that it would include the murders as well as the stealing, and could also include comparisons of punishments.  Personally, I think that the guy's name should be changed to protect him, considering that this will be for all time, but others may disagree.  The guy's exact name is not important.  What is important is the court martial cases and the relative punishments.

mjn

I agree with mjn and have moved the article out of mainspace for now while those involved can discuss neutrality and topic informant issues, if there are any.  It seems to me that an article with a person's name as the title should include more than just something that they did wrong.  Considering that this person is still alive, we need to be vigilant in how we present issues.  The sources also seem to be dissapearing and we want to make sure they don't get lost.