Talk:Benjamin LaGuer

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The Benjamin LaGuer case became a flashpoint in the 2006 race for Massachusetts Governor. See the "Deval Patrick" page for details. It is therefore a case of significant public interest.

--Eric Goldscheider 04:18, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

• It seems it's already covered on that page, and otherwise is a routine criminal case. I don't see the point of a separate page as there's no notability aside from Patrick. Fan-1967 04:22, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

I spent some time expanding this page. I wanted to insert a photo but couldn't figure out how. Can anyone tell me? I'll come back to put in more external links and maybe some more footnotes. If there are places people feel should especially be footnoted you can let me know about that here in this space. Thank. --Eric Goldscheider 21:36, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I added some section headings and more internal links. How do I know when it it okay to remove the "wickify" heading? Can anybody give some guidance on that or on otherwise improving the look or the content of the entry?Eric Goldscheider 04:41, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

I added a Further Reading section. I'd like to put in a References section that links to the footnotes in the text, but I can't figure out how to do that. Can anybody can help me on that? Eric Goldscheider 14:16, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

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Copying a comment from the article — Ginkgo100 ^talk

It is therefore a case of significant public interest. I am a journalist who has researched it extensively. I maintain www.BenLaGuer.com where I have posted many primary documents which I will link to for purposes of substantiating the content of this article, whic is still in the sandbox stage. --EricGoldscheider

Sorry, I don't see that as an argument for keeping it. The significant part of the case, its effect on the Patrick campaign, is covered in that article. Anything outside that is a pretty routine crime report like thousands of others. If there's more information relevant to the Patrick campaign, add it there. If there's more information not relevant there, then realistically, it's not notable. Fan-1967 04:45, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

The significance, as you will see when I get the chance to expand the entry, is that Gov. Patrick had headed the civil rights division in the Clinton Justice department before he became interested in this case. There were serious charges that racism had tainted the jury process, and in fact the case became the basis for a landmark decision in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1991. Patrick was one of many notables, including Elie Weisel, William Styron, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Charles Ogletree, Boston University President John Silber and Noam Chomsky to take up LaGuer's cause. The fact that Partick's opponent tried to turn LaGuer into a latter day Willie Horton during the 2006 campaign based on Patrick's previous support of the inmate, makes this a case of national political significance. The case is currently before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court again where LaGuer is being represented by James C. Rehnquist, son of the former Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.--Eric Goldscheider 02:39, 3 January 2007 (UTC)