Talk:Daniel Sheehan (attorney)

Comment
Article intro reads like poor-quality PR copy.Alberrosidus (talk) 08:08, 31 January 2014 (UTC)
 * The article was a copy and paste from http://danielpsheehan.com/about/biography. - Location (talk) 06:18, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Silkwood
I would like to add a section on Daniel Sheehan's wikipedia page describing his work with the Karen Silkwood Case. I have a link to archived articles and court documents about the case that reference daniel sheehan and his role in the case. If I write a summary of this section in an expository fashion, and insert the source links to the articles/documents at appropriate locations, will that be concrete enough to allow my additional section to stand? thank you NoahX76 (talk) 00:25, 26 March 2016 (UTC)


 * That sounds like a good idea, but please take a look at WP:PRIMARY. Court documents are always better with supporting commentary from independent sources. In fact, it's best to build content around the secondary sources, and only use court documents to fill in details. Make sure to check Karen Silkwood also. The section of that article about the case lacks sources, so you may be able to solve both problems. Also, make sure content added is primarily about Sheehan first and foremost, otherwise it probably doesn't belong. Grayfell (talk) 04:22, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Sheehan's work on James Sabow case

 * Schou, Nick. "Who Killed Col. James Sabow?" Orange County Weekly. February 17, 2000.

This was originally an external link on the Christic Institute page. Since it relates to Sheehan's post-Christic work, I've moved it here for reference. Rgr09 (talk) 19:31, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

New article proposed (and revised)
Daniel P. Sheehan (born April 9, 1945) is a constitutional and public interest lawyer, political activist, public speaker, and educator. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, Harvard College, and Harvard Divinity School.

Over the course of his career, Daniel Sheehan has participated in numerous legal cases of public interest, including cases related to the Pentagon Papers, the Attica Prison Riot, the Wounded Knee Occupation, the death of Karen Silkwood, the Greensboro Massacre, The Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the American Sanctuary Movement, and the La Penca bombing. Sheehan has also represented controversial groups such as the Black Panther Party of Boston and the Church of Scientology. Sheehan has worked with attorneys of note such as F. Lee Bailey, Gerry Spence, and William Kunstler. He served as an attorney for regional and national offices of the American Civil Liberties Union. Sheehan and his wife, activist Sara Nelson, established the Christic Institute (1980-1992) and reconstituted the Romero Institute (formerly the Oscar Romero Foundation), two inter-faith non-profit law and public policy centers.

UFOs and Alien Visitation
From an early age Sheehan has believed in the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. He has lectured widely about UFOs/alien visitation, conducted a study of UFOs for the Congressional Research Service, and served as General Counsel for The Disclosure Project. Sheehan has discussed the topic several times on the Coast to Coast AM radio program, is featured in several UFO documentaries, and has established an institute intended to foster a new theological worldview necessary for a “post-contact reality.”  Sheehan defended an academic whose research on UFOs had been criticized by colleagues and has represented Luis Elizondo, a UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) “whistleblower” who claims to have been defamed by the US Department of Defense.

The La Penca Bombing Case
Sheehan and the Christic Institute achieved their greatest public prominence in 1986 when Sheehan used the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act to sue thirty individuals on behalf of Tony Avirgan, an American journalist injured in a 1984 bombing intended to kill Contra military leader Eden Pastora in La Penca, Nicaragua. Sheehan alleged that the bombing was the work of an anti-communist, self-enriching “Secret Team” within the US government which had been responsible for money laundering, political assassinations, illegal arms transfers, and drug-running across the globe since the 1970s. Some of the individuals identified in Sheehan’s complaint were figures in the Iran-Contra Scandal, which was coming to light at the time. Sheehan’s publicity and fundraising efforts for the case and subsequent appeals included an appearance on C-SPAN, two books based on the suit, a graphic novel by Alan Moore, Bill Sienkiewicz and Paul Mavrides, and benefit concerts featuring Bobcat Goldthwaite, Michele Shocked, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and Bruce Springsteen. Sheehan, Christic and its lawsuit were praised by Congressman Don Edwards, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, Daniel Elsberg and other liberal Americans. In 1988 Judge James L. King of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, claiming the suit was based on “unsubstantiated rumor and speculation from unidentified sources with no first-hand knowledge.” Two subsequent appeals were denied. The Christic Institute sold its assets to pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees and court costs ordered by the court, lost its charitable status, and was dissolved. Sheehan and Nelson subsequently moved from Washington DC to California.

After La Penca
After the dismissal Avirgan criticized Sheehan for including “numerous undocumented allegations” in the suit and for inflating the case beyond the issue of the bombing to an indictment of a “broad, 30-year conspiracy.” Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates criticized Sheehan and Christic for incorporating right-wing conspiracy theories into their case. Berlet grouped Sheehan with the researchers John Judge, Mark Lane, Dave Emory, Barbara Honneger, and Mae Brussell who have “created a progressive constituency that confuses demagoguery with leadership, and undocumented conspiracism with serious research.” Decades later, the La Penca bomber was identified by Avirgan, Honey and others as an Argentinian “double agent” who was working for an official of Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, which prompted Honey to complain that, “…we had wasted millions of dollars and a decade with Sheehan.”

Subsequent Sheehan activities include: lecture series on American history and contemporary politics at several California universities (1994-2019); another unsuccessful lawsuit which claimed a purported murder was related to secret government activities (the Col. Joseph Sabow Case); participation in legal cases related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests; and advocacy for California “clean car” legislation. Sheehan is currently Chief Counsel of the Romero Institute, where his focus is the Lakota People's Law Project and the Let’s Green CA! initiative. He currently lives in Santa Cruz, California. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jpgarry (talk • contribs) 05:41, 17 July 2022 (UTC)


 * It looks like over 50% of these are primary sources or sources linked to Sheehan's Romero Institute projects (and I doubt his UFO stuff would fly at WP:RSN), so I've restored the previous version. I believe you are quite familiar with Sheehan. Do you have any thoughts on what reliable sources could be used to expand this article without excessively duplicating Christic Institute and Romero Institute? -Location (talk) 06:54, 10 May 2023 (UTC)


 * David Corn's book "Blond Ghost", a bio of Ted Shackley, has quite a bit on the Avirgan v Hull lawsuit that the Christic Institute brought. It might be a useful supplement for the Christic Institute article. It is strongly critical of Sheehan. Corn has a little on Sheehan's pre-Christic activities, mentioning his involvement in the Pentagon Papers and the Silkwood case, but claiming that "Sheehan often exaggerated his role in such cases (p. 381). Corn has nothing about Sheehan's post-Christic activities. Many of the sources listed above are Sheehan's own books and websites. Brought to Light is a comic book. Convergence was a Christic newsletter. I have reservations about all such sources and agree with your revert. Rgr09 (talk) 11:35, 13 May 2023 (UTC)

Uninformative
"Sheehan has spoken publicly about UFOs and alien visitation," - Okeh, but what did he say? Kdammers (talk) 01:42, 14 December 2023 (UTC)


 * I included that line to demonstrate that this was not a privately-held belief, but a public one, an aspect of his activism. Is it necessary to describe what he said, beyond his belief in UFOs and alien visitation? Do I need to go into that much detail in this article? I'm open on this question. If you access the sources you can hear exactly what he said. 2600:1700:5AB0:C4B0:75D1:6E2B:C998:896B (talk) 17:36, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * As it currently stands, it is unclear if he has spoken a lot about there being or there not being alien visitation. I'm just asking for clarification. Whether or not going into detail is beyond my knowledge of the man's views and the importance of what he has claimed. Kdammers (talk) 20:21, 14 December 2023 (UTC)