Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Creative artists who have served time in prison


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. Ron Ritzman (talk) 01:09, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Creative artists who have served time in prison

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Flat-out WP:BLP violation. The vast majority of these names are not sourced. Even if they were, I don't think this would be a good idea for a list. Aside from the question of who counts as a 'creative artist', what's so significant about 'creative artists who have served time in prison' anyway? Is this really a notable topic? Should we be highlighting the fact that these people have spent time in prison? Should we have lists like this for every other profession? The only other one I know of is List of professional sportspeople convicted of crimes, which I don't like either, but at least that list is well-sourced. How on earth has this list survived since 2007 without sources? Robofish (talk) 20:45, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. What a potential rocky dignitary torts minefield. Bearian (talk) 21:12, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom as unsourced BLP and unclear scope. Travelbird (talk) 02:20, 12 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. MLA (talk) 21:22, 12 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. -- JN 466  22:37, 12 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete Lists like this used to be a staple on Wikipedia-- unsourced, indiscriminate (this is a textbook example) and uninformative. Our standards have improved over the years.  Surprising that this "guess who's been in prison" thing lasted this long.  If you're going to sling mud, make sure to tell us where you got the mud.   Mandsford 00:17, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Keep The BLP issue is quite irrelevant for the numerous historical figures in this list, including Oscar Wilde and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose accounts of their own incarceration are major works of art. It is easy to find lists of this sort in sources and so the topic is notable. Colonel Warden (talk) 11:39, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete A major minefield for BLP violations. Also not notable enough to need a list.--Yaksar (let's chat) 17:37, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree that WP:BLP wouldn't bar recognition that certain notable people have been incarcerated at some point in their lives, so long as it's properly sourced and the some useful context is provided. I compare this to making a list of names and labeling it "List of Christians who cheated on their spouses".  As noted, some very good people have been behind bars in the past, either a night in jail or an actual prison sentence, sometimes prisoners of conscience, sometimes people who made a mistake in their lives-- besides Wilde and Solzhenitsyn, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, John McClain, Tim Allen, Johnny Cash all come to mind.  A serious effort-- and this one has been irresponsible and silly from day one-- would best be worked on in someone's userspace.  As others have pointed out, this is a magnet for vandalism, so a casual approach is a bad idea. Mandsford 18:00, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete 'Creative artist' is not clearly defined, and sources rarely use that term when describing these people spending time in jail. 'Prison' also has various meanings (it is not the same as 'jail' in the U.S., but apparently is used that way in some countries). This is a mess of WP:SYNTHESIS, in addition to the WP:BLP problems. First Light (talk) 18:13, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Keep for historical, sourced figures only, but rename to remove 'creative': The 'creative' part is too subjective and largely irrational, the notion of an artist is already vague enough without arbitrary qualifiers. prat (talk) 18:49, 15 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Note: The article under discussion here has been flagged for rescue by the Article Rescue Squadron. Snotty Wong   talk 17:55, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. Major BLP problems and notability concerns.  Snotty Wong   talk 17:55, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Lists of people-related deletion discussions.  -- • Gene93k (talk) 23:35, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Keep Just rename it to List of famous entertainers who have served time in prison and its fine. This is a subject that gets plenty of news coverage.  Anytime someone famous goes to jail, the news media covers it.    D r e a m Focus  01:38, 15 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Ermm, every time a celebrity is caught cheating, or a politician cries, or someone publicly flubs song lyrics there is also plenty of news coverage. There's some guideline that explicitly points out that Wikipedia is not the news, although I can't think of the exact name.--Yaksar (let's chat) 02:04, 15 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete as a rather pointless list. In any specific instance, include the information in the biography. --DThomsen8 (talk) 20:56, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.