A question of ethics
The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/09/2006 04:31:56 AM PDT
On this page, for decades, we have printed the criticism, praise and other commentary of community leaders and our readers kind enough and concerned enough to share their thoughts -- your thoughts -- with us.
Also, for years, we have noted that writers have to be responsible for their own words. We have urged all authors of letters, guest editorials and other submissions to state their own thoughts -- not copy those of others or submit items under false names. This and every other newspaper faces the same challenge in publishing readers' comments.
At times, we've had to tag someone for not following those basic rules. This is one of those times.
District Attorney Paul Gallegos turned in a My Word guest editorial to us, which ran last Saturday, that -- as reported by The Eureka Reporter -- contained some plagiarized views on the subject of vigilantism. There are also questions about at least one earlier guest editorial.
We've endorsed the DA on this page, and we've also been critical of some of his past actions -- as now.
As many of us were taught in college, it's not plagiarism if you cite your source, which is just doing your homework -- in a legal case or anywhere else.
We don't expect perfection from elected leaders. But if a mistake is made, it should be quickly noted and corrected. After two days of questions, the DA finally did respond in full, and that response appears below.
The district attorney is supposed to uphold the law, and the spirit of the law, and above all be an upstanding community example of the law.
Our DA should shine the light on wrongdoing, including theft, and not lift passages from someone else's work.
Gallegos ran and won on a platform of fairness, honesty and integrity, and he should be held to that standard.
Dear Editor:
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter. As you know, I am in trial and the early parts of a trial, most especially a murder trial, are a little time consuming. So you know, I was very embarrassed to learn that I had inadvertently quoted Robert Felix, professor emeritus, without attribution. At my earliest opportunity, I telephoned him to apologize and he graciously accepted. Great teachers like the professor and great leaders like I believe Robert Kennedy would have been are and have been a constant source of inspiration to me. I take their words, their thoughts and their deeds to heart. In the future, I will certainly strive to be much more careful when writing. I provided a similar statement to Heather Muller of the Eureka Reporter so she too will know of both my embarrassment, my regret, my apology to the professor and my commitment to work to prevent such an embarrassing moment again.
Paul Gallegos
District Attorney
No comments:
Post a Comment