Conservapedia:Edwin Meese III (Plagiarized Article)
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- Biography at the Heritage Foundation -- not linked to nor cited
- Biography at the Hoover Institution -- linked to, but for a paragraph made up of quotes from the Heritage Foundation biography
- Answers.com article on Edwin Meese III -- linked to, but not for the right paragraph (see additional comment after the main comparison)
Unlike some of the other cases of plagiarism we've looked at, in this case the "writer" apparently didn't lift whole paragraphs at at a time. Instead, paragraphs were chopped into sentences, tossed in a blender, then re-assembled. Or possibly your humble reporter just hasn't found the right copy of the many variations of Meese's apparent official bio; it is very possible that the attributions suggested here aren't quite right, but it is clear that:
- the Conservapedia "writer" didn't actually write very many words for this
- the citations provided are misleading at best and inaccurate at worst
In particular, the bulk of the article comes from a source not cited at all; possibly the Heritage Foundation bio as suggested here, or possibly this one or another one yet to be discovered.
[edit] 9 May 2007 Version |
[edit] Other Pages on the Web |
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Edwin Meese III, born Dec. 2, 1931, to Edwin Jr. and Leone Meese in Oakland, California, is a prominent leader, thinker and elder statesman in the conservative movement – and America itself. From January 1981 to February 1985, Meese held the position of Counsellor to the President – the senior position on the White House Staff – where he functioned as President Ronald Reagan's chief policy adviser. He served as the seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States from February 1985 to August 1988. [1] |
Edwin Meese III was born Dec. 2, 1931, to Edwin Jr. and Leone Meese in Oakland, Calif.
Edwin Meese III is a prominent leader, thinker and elder statesman in the conservative movement – and America itself.
From January 1981 to February 1985, Meese held the position of Counsellor to the President – the senior position on the White House Staff – where he functioned as Reagan's chief policy adviser.
He served as the 75th Attorney General of the United States from February 1985 to August 1988.
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Edwin Meese is an expert on the U.S. legal system, law enforcement and criminal justice, intelligence and national security, and the Reagan Presidency. His current research focuses on the criminal justice system, federalism, emergency response management, and terrorism. He is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University) and is Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and he holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation. |
Meese is an expert on the U.S. legal system, law enforcement and criminal justice, intelligence and national security, and the Reagan presidency. His current research focuses on the criminal justice system, federalism, emergency response management, and terrorism.
Edwin Meese is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution
Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
He holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation,
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He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and holds a law degree from the University of California-Berkeley. He is a retired Colonel in the Army Reserve. |
He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and holds a law degree from the University of California-Berkeley. He is a retired Colonel in the Army Reserve and remains active in numerous civic and educational organizations.
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Meese headed Ronald Reagan's transition effort after the former governor won the 1980 presidential election. During the presidential campaign that year, 1980, he served as Chief of Staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush Committee.[2] |
Meese headed Reagan's transition effort after the former governor won the 1980 presidential election. During the presidential campaign that year, he served as Chief of Staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush Committee.
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[edit] Attorney General | |
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As the nation's chief law enforcement officer, he directed the Justice Department and led international efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. In 1985, he received the Government Executive magazine's annual award for excellence in management.
As Attorney General and as Counsellor, Meese was a member of Reagan's Cabinet and the National Security Council. He served as chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and of the National Drug Policy Board.
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Meese sought to establish tough policies against pornography. He appointed a Commission on Pornography, which issued a controversial two-volume report in 1986 that stated that there was a causal link between violent pornography and aggressive behavior toward women. The report also claimed that nonviolent sexually explicit material contributed to sexual violence, a conclusion challenged by many social scientists. The report broke new ground in its exploration of the problem of child pornography.
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[edit] Iran-Contra |
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[edit] Pre-Presidential Service |
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From 1977 to 1981, he was a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he also was Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.
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Formerly, Meese served as Gov. Reagan's Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff in California from 1969 through 1974. He also was his Legal Affairs Secretary from 1967 through 1968.
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Before joining Gov. Reagan's staff in 1967, Meese served as Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, Calif.
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In addition to his background as a lawyer, educator and public official, Meese has been a business executive in the aerospace and transportation industry, serving as Vice President for administration of Rohr Industries, Inc. in Chula Vista, Calif. He left Rohr to return to the practice of law, engaging in corporate and general legal work in San Diego County.
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[edit] Family |
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Meese and his wife, Ursula, have two grown children. They live in McLean, Va. and Rancho Santa Fe, California. |
Meese and his wife, Ursula, have two grown children. They live in McLean, Va.
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[edit] Writings |
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His memoirs were published in the 1992 volume With Reagan: The Inside Story (Regnery Gateway Publishers).
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The paragraph about Reagan transition team cites an Answers.com copy of a Wikipedia article. A very similar paragraph appears in that article, but the Conservapedia version matches the (uncited) Heritage Foundation version's better. The use of an answers.com citation is interesting as well -- was the editor unaware it was actually Wikipedia material, or was he attempting to disguise that fact?
[edit] Heritage Foundation versionMeese headed Reagan's transition effort after the former governor won the 1980 presidential election. During the presidential campaign that year, he served as Chief of Staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush Committee. |
[edit] CP versionMeese headed Ronald Reagan's transition effort after the former governor won the 1980 presidential election. During the presidential campaign that year, 1980, he served as Chief of Staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush Committee.[4] |
[edit] Answers.com/Wikipedia versionMeese headed Reagan's transition effort following the 1980 election. During the presidential campaign, he served as chief of staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush committee. |
A second Answers.com-related paragraph is interesting, as well. The paragraph dealing with the Meese Commission report on pornography cites the Department of Justice official biography, but that biography is exceptionally short and doesn't mention the commission at all. The paragraph is actually a slight modification of an Answers.com (but in this case, not Wikipedia) paragraph. The changes change the meaning in non-trivial ways, though: instead of seeking to establish tough policies, the CP version says he did; it removes the 'controversial' adjective from the report, and claims (again, without any citation) that the pornograph-leads-to-violence conclusion is 'more recently widely accepted'.
