Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Robert Somma


 * 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. j⚛e deckertalk 17:19, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

Robert Somma

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This BLP article is an orphan, about a male former federal bankruptcy judge who resigned after being busted for a DUI while dressed in women's clothing after leaving a gay bar. Per this discussion, there appears to be a consensus that bankruptcy judges are not inherently notable; i.e. that they are not notable unless there is something else about them that confers notability. For example, Alice M. Batchelder went on to become a U.S. district judge and chief judge of the Sixth Circuit. Arthur Gonzalez handled three high-profile bankruptcies: the Chrysler bankruptcy, the Worldcom bankruptcy (at the time the largest) and the Enron bankruptcy.

I just picked those two randomly from Category:Judges of the United States bankruptcy courts; but pretty much all the others in that category (there are only 13, including Somma) have something either related to their bankruptcy career (e.g., length of term, chief judge of the bankruptcy court, presiding over prominent bankruptcies) or subsequent career development (e.g., serving as an Article III judge). Somma's article stands out in that there's nothing special about him except for a titillating DUI arrest. He had a short (3-year) undistinguished career as a bankruptcy judge; handled no prominent cases and had no other notable aspects in his term; and no subsequent judicial career, or indeed, any other public career.

The article was created in April 2008, in response to the news of his resignation, by a WP:SPA editor who never made further edits after setting up the article; the editor's entire Wikipedia career consists of creating this article and then making a minor edit to it 20 minutes later. I stumbled upon it a couple of years ago and did some cleanup on it, and pretty much forgot about it. It's had no significant edits since then.

My take is that Somma is not notable, and the article is more an exercise in schadenfreude than a legitimate Wikipedia article. TJRC (talk) 02:18, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Law-related deletion discussions. TJRC (talk) 02:51, 5 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete per the excellent, detailed reasoning by the nominator, and WP:BLP.  Cullen 328  Let's discuss it  06:13, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Massachusetts-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 15:06, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 15:07, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 15:07, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep Article is no longer an orphan and sources have been added to show that Somma is notable for more than one event. --Hirolovesswords (talk) 05:32, 11 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Where do you see notability? The only edits show that he works as an attorney (all bankruptcy judges are attorneys), worked on the side as an assistant at the state (not federal) AG's office, and taught or teaches part-time at a law school.  None of these convey notability to me.
 * Also, with respect to the orphan status, not that orphan status is itself a basis for deletion; but if he's discussed nowhere else, that's a big clue suggesting non-notability. For practical purposes, although the article is technically not an orphan any longer, the only reason it is not an orphan is that Somma has been added as a bullet-item to a couple of lists one list : lawyers who used to work at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis (where he was managing partner for a few months, but, assuming that to be a notable law firm, notability is not inherited) ; and List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes .  He isn't actually discussed anywhere. TJRC (talk) 17:45, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I note that another editor removed him from List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes, on the ground (quite correct, I think) that he is not a politician. TJRC (talk) 19:06, 13 March 2014 (UTC)


 * By the way, to clarify, my position is not that Somma is notable only for one event, i.e., WP:BLP1E. If that were the case, it might be appropriate to move the article to Arrest of Robert Somma, or some such.  My position is that he does not meet WP:GNG at all.  His arrest is not notable; his term as a bankruptcy judge is not notable; his legal career is not notable; and his part-time teaching activities are not notable.  He is not notable, not even for one event. TJRC (talk) 17:32, 12 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete, the "extra sources" don't confirm anything except that Somma worked as a garden variety bankruptcy judge. The one 'colourful' event is a case of WP:ONEEVENT and this article should be deleted posthaste for WP:BLP reasons.  Lankiveil (speak to me) 11:16, 13 March 2014 (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.