Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/List of executions by lethal injection/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured list nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured list candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The list was promoted by Giants2008 via FACBot (talk) 00:32, 18 September 2017 (UTC) [1].[reply]

List of executions by lethal injection[edit]

List of executions by lethal injection (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): Freikorp (talk) 12:59, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I am nominating this because it is a unique list that I believe meets featured standards. Freikorp (talk) 13:04, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Rapido comments

  • Don't start lists with "This is a list..."
  • Age should be in the table.
  • "Executed for" column should either be unsortable or sort properly.
  • Could put table in its own section and add a few images down the right-hand side.

The Rambling Man (talk) 13:16, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@The Rambling Man: I've addressed the first 3 points, and am currently adding images. Have a look at the article now. Is this the kind of setup you were hoping for regarding images? Freikorp (talk) 14:19, 23 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not The Rambling Man, but I just wanted to point out that image descriptions that are complete sentences (as opposed to sentence fragments) should end with a full stop. Sandvich18 (talk) 19:53, 23 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Done. Freikorp (talk) 23:36, 23 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I think there's too many images now. They appear near the references on my screen. In my opinion, it would look better for more people if you removed, say, 3 of them. By the way, there's a typo ("Georgie") in one of the cells. And - couldn't "1954 c." be replaced by "c. 1954" (as with other similar dates) using the following code: <span style="display:none">1954</span>c. 1954? Sandvich18 (talk) 15:52, 25 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks so much for your comments. I've implemented all your suggestions. Freikorp (talk) 23:59, 25 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
No problem. :) Maybe you would like to add a "see also" section to this list? With one or more of the following: Lists of people by cause of death, List of deaths from legal euthanasia and assisted suicide, List of deaths from drug overdose and intoxication, Capital punishment in the United States, Capital punishment in China. Sandvich18 (talk) 13:45, 26 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Done. :) Freikorp (talk) 14:13, 26 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose This is horribly incomprehensive, to the point that I'm wondering why it even exists. Capital punishment in the United States says there have been 1,700 executions just since reinstatement, nearly all of which were by lethal injection. Your list only includes a single person from 2017, yet according to List of offenders executed in the United States in 2017 there have been fifteen so far this year. What are the inclusion criteria here? Reywas92Talk 23:01, 27 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Reywas92: Did you read the lead? It states, "This alphabetical list features notable cases only", and also explicitly states that the US had executed 1,212 people via lethal injection as of October 2014. By reading the lead, one clearly becomes aware that many people are executed by lethal injection and that this is a collection of notable cases. The criteria for inclusion is exactly the same as my last featured list nomination to be promoted: List of deaths from drug overdose and intoxication. It's not a list of everyone who has died from a drug overdose, it's a list of everyone who is notable enough to have a Wikipedia article who has died from a drug overdose. Likewise, this is a list of every single person who has a Wikipedia article about them who died from lethal injection. I thought that should have been obvious, but I'm happy to reword the lead to make this clearer if you like. Freikorp (talk) 00:18, 28 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Have a look at featured lists like List of people with brain tumors, List of people with hepatitis C, List of HIV-positive people and List of poliomyelitis survivors. Even though they don't explicitly state it, it's quite clear that they don't contain every single person on the planet who has a brain tumour etc, and it's obvious from the context that it's a list of famous people with the condition. While I think the criteria goes without saying in my new nomination as well, nevertheless I'd already taken it upon myself to explicitly explain the criteria to the reader. Freikorp (talk) 00:36, 28 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with Freikorp, notability in this list is sensible and well-defined. By the way, now that there's a "See also" section, maybe there could be a link to Portal:Death, too. Also, I don't think Nazi Germany needs to be linked in the table since it's already blue in the lead. Sandvich18 (talk) 22:46, 28 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I see seven bluelinks on List of offenders executed in the United States in 2017, but only one is on your list. You have 5/6 from 2014, 3/6 from 2013, and 2/3 from 2012, so there is some incompleteness. This also only has one of the three people linked at Capital punishment in Guatemala (why should the other two sharing an article exclude them?) I do not think that this is a direct comparison to the others you have linked. The others are compilations of people notable for their own various reasons who happen to have a health issue in common. There are millions of non-notable people with these so the criteria for a single list are obvious, whereas these people are notable for a reason directly connected to their execution. However, in this case it is also a much smaller amount of people who fit the category, the vast majority of whose names are known are already listed on Wikipedia. This simply copies the information from Lists of people executed in the United States but condenses it to those with articles, adding a handful of known names from other countries. My point is: why do we need a separate list only for those who happen to have articles when they're already in more comprehensive lists on Wikipedia? Reywas92Talk 07:35, 29 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I would also then suggest a rename to List of people executed by lethal injection because you are focusing on notable people, not the executions themselves. A list of executions should include all executions, whereas better terminology emphasizes the focus. Wikipedia can be fickle on what people are notable; sufficient sources for an article could conceivably be found for many criminals executed who don't yet have articles, but not as much so for non-notable people excluded from your other linked lists (OTOH, many included here who do have articles aren't really that notable - several have brief stubs). Also, there should be links to the aforementioned lists that are actually comprehensive, such as Template:CapPun-US. Reywas92Talk 07:47, 29 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't deliberately exclude anybody from this list. I populated the list by adding every single person added to the category Category:People executed by lethal injection. Thanks for pointing out there are other people executed by lethal injection who haven't been added to that category; I'll go through and add them all to the list. I'd like to point out I did not throw in a "handful of known names from other countries"; I added every single person who had been listed to the aforementioned category, irrespective of what country they come from. I'd also like to state I did not "copy" the information from anywhere. For starters, only five of the people listed at List of offenders executed in the United States in 2011 have sources, and even then they're all bare URLs. This new article is 100% sourced and formatted consistently. In that regard at least, it's a huge improvement on those articles you've mentioned above. This article is also unique in the fact it lists all notable cases, not just those in the US. Wikipedia is in general too focused on US subjects and articles often, unfortunately, lack perspective from the rest of the world. I firmly believe this list offers something new to Wikipedia.
I do accept, however, that many people who were executed by lethal injection who don't currently have an article could potentially have one made. In building this list, my goal was simply to collect all the people who already have articles on them. Should my nomination be penalised because there are people who could be added to the list if only someone took the time to create articles about them? It's a fair question, and I don't know the answer to it. I'm not really sure what the going policy is on that, but I'd like to hear more opinions on the matter. Freikorp (talk) 10:43, 29 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@Reywas92: Most of the blue links you were complaining about not being in the list were just redirects. The only 'missing' blue link from List of offenders executed in the United States in 2012 was a redirect. Only one of the three blue links you mentioned from 2013 was missing from the article; one of the other two was executed by electrocution and the other was in the article under a slightly different version of his name. The only missing one from 2014 is a redirect. Two of the missing ones from 2017 are redirects, three of the others were executed after I wrote the article last month, and one of those was executed after this nomination began. Any concerns that a considerable amount of notable cases had been left out of this list are not valid, in my opinion. But in any case, I've added everyone who meets the criteria from all the lists you mentioned now. Freikorp (talk) 01:08, 30 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I am still hesitant to support because it is still somewhat arbitrary whether executed individuals have their own articles, which is not necessarily related to their method of execution, but I appreciate the changes made and the clarification of the list's criteria and do not oppose the promotion of this list. Reywas92Talk 05:37, 8 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This will most likely be my last minor comment: I think refs in the "Ref" column should be centered, just like here. Other than that, I believe every issue has been addressed and I'm happy to support this nomination under the new title. Sandvich18 (talk) 10:16, 1 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Thanks so much for your suggestions and support. :) Freikorp (talk) 10:42, 1 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Dudley

  • This is very close to getting a support. My only minor quibble is a typo in note 16. My main objection is that you clarify the criteria for notability above, but not in the article. There are no deaths listed after 2010 outside the US, and none at all in Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan. This obviously reflects the fact that it is based on coverage in English Wikipedia, which means that very minor American figures have articles but major Vietnamese ones, for example, do not. This should be clarified in the article, and also the cut off date. I suggest changing "This alphabetical list features notable cases only where lethal injection can be reliably sourced to be the method of execution." to something like "This alphabetical list features notable cases up to July 2017, and only those where lethal injection can be reliably sourced to be the method of execution. The criterion for notability is an article on the individual in English Wikipedia, which inevitably causes a bias towards US executions, as notable individuals in other countries such as Thailand and Vietnam may only have articles in their own language." Dudley Miles (talk) 08:48, 6 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Hi Dudley Miles. Thanks so much for your comments. I've fixed the typo, and I've also reworded the criteria in the lead as per your suggestion. It's a bit of a long-winded explanation but it is an accurate description, so I'm happy with it. :) Freikorp (talk) 10:22, 6 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Support by Paparazzzi I read the list and I think it meets the criteria since I couldn't find any mistake, it has been reviewed already and it has improved a lot since that, so I'm going to support this nomination. Paparazzzi (talk) 05:58, 14 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Cartoon network freak

  • As of 2017 the method → comma before "the"
  • The US and China → write "US" out here
  • in the US can be found here. → write "US" out
  • Everything else seems to be fine
@Freikorp: These are my comments. I will support once you answered. Best, Cartoon network freak (talk) 05:15, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@Cartoon network freak: I assume this is the change you wanted: [2]. Thanks so much for your comments. Freikorp (talk) 10:37, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Support - Concerns from above seem to have been addressed, the inclusion criteria works here, and the list is well-written. I do however have two questions/comments:

  • Should it be "legalise" or "legalize"? Either one is appropriate for this article, but I am curious as to whether or not there's a reason for using the British English spelling vs. the American English spelling? Or is it standard practice to use British English in articles?
  • Since "US" is an abbreviation for United States, shouldn't it be "U.S."? I feel like that's pretty standard but maybe there's something about it in the MoS?

Beyond that, I find no issues with the article and the points above are very minor and are more of questions than they are comments. Good work on the list. Sportsguy17 (T • C) 17:04, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your comments. Articles can use either British or American spelling (or other variations of English), though since this article mainly deals with a US topic I think it is most appropriate to use American English so I've just changed it to "legalize" accordingly. I've also changed all the mentions of "US" to "U.S." as this seems to be the preferred term as per MOS:US. Freikorp (talk) 05:10, 16 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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