Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/JD Caselaw
– This SPI case is open.
JD Caselaw
- JD Caselaw (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
03 September 2010
Suspected sockpuppets
- Agradman (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
Evidence submitted by GregJackP
The userpage of JD Caselaw shows that he is a law student at Columbia University and a member of WikiProject Law. The userpage of Agradman shows that he is a law student at Columbia University and a member of WikiProjects Law, U.S. Congress and SCOTUS. Both the talk page of JD Caselaw and Agradman show that they are both on a Wikibreak. JD Caselaw has done "cleanup" editing of Agradman's talkpage [1] and [2]. Agradman has extensively edited JD Caselaw's user page (too many diffs, see page history instead. Both accounts have voted in AfDs Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Chysky v. Drake Bros. Co., Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Leonardo Ciampa, both in support of each other. Wikistalk shows interesting results here. Writing style and edit summaries of both accounts is very similar. See also comment here by Agradman about watchlisting an article created by JD Caselaw. GregJackP Boomer! 03:38, 3 September 2010 (UTC)
Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.
- This is Andrew Gradman. (The account is user:Agradman but I have always signed with my full name, Andrew Gradman.) Lately I have been editing with my JD Caselaw account because WikiBreak Enforcer is enabled on my user:Agradman account until December. So, yes, both these accounts are mine. Prior to today, I don't think I've ever positively stated that I own both accounts, but Wikipedia:Sock puppetry permits that -- provided I have a "very good reason" (I have one -- privacy concerns because I use my full name) and provided that I do so "only with care":
Editors who use more than one account are advised to provide links between them on the user pages (see below). They can also redirect the user and user talk pages of that account to their main account. Do not use undisclosed alternative accounts without very good reason. If you must, do so only with care.
- Now, I admit that my behavior at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Chysky v. Drake Bros. Co. violated the sockpuppeting policy. And I know that that is really, really bad.
- But I think it's important to note that this behavior occurred fifteen months ago, one month after I joined Wikipedia, and before I knew wikipedia's sockpuppeting policy. As of May 17 2009 (when I contributed to the AfD for Chysky v. Drake Bros. Co.), the JD Caselaw account was four days old and the Agradman account had made its first substantial contributions only one month prior. ("Substantial contributions": Prior to April 2009, Agradman had made only 32 edits; prior to 2009, only 16.) Since then I have never sockpuppeted, and I have proven to be an exemplary editor (nearly 9,000 edits, nearly 1,000 new articles, two DYK's, gave a lightening talk at the NYC WikiConference, and I've befriended many Wikipedians, online and offline, who will attest to my civility and fairness).
- Regarding the AfD for Leonardo Ciampa (which occurred in August 2009), it is inaccurate to say I voted twice. I used Agradman to vote and JD Caselaw to make a comment. Ordinarily, that would still be sockpuppetry, but in that instance I had a special justification. The signature line of my Agradman account employs my full personal name, and I was worried after reading the following comment on the AfD, indicating that Mr. Ciampa himself was stalking people who were critical of the Leonardo Ciampa article:
Note. I am recusing myself from all further discussion of this article and removing it from my watch list. In the past 24 hours, I have been accused of sockpuppetry, had my real name and physical location listed, and Leonardo Ciampa has tried to contact me personally. This is not worth my time (especially considering that the article receives so little traffic) and it's definitely not worth the aggravation and lost sleep. Life is too short.THD3 (talk) 14:36, 11 August 2009 (UTC)
- So, once I had edited the Lenoardo Ciampa AfD as Andrew Gradman -- staking out a position oppposed to Mr. Ciampa -- I saw no other way to continue commenting on the AfD while protecting myself from the threat of being stalked in the real world! (Indeed, I made a comment that shows that this concern was on my mind at the time: "The partisanship of the Keepers is creeping me out. try not to take this personally.")
- And that's all there is to respond to! JD Caselaw(talk) 06:53, 3 September 2010 (UTC)