Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James French (murderer)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Extensive reliable sources found, some of which discuss the individual in their own right indicating this isnt simply inherited being formally "the last" Seddon ^talk 07:42, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

James French (murderer) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

Article about a murderer based on a rather complicated (and not verified) claim. Fails WP:CRIMINAL as far as I can see. At best (if someone thinks he has any claim to be the 'last') it should be redirected or merged somewhere, maybe Capital punishment in the United States. Sionk (talk) 19:38, 5 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Delete: Agree the only thing that makes this notable is if he was the last, and that is disputed by another online article found here: WebWeaver64 (talk) 22:12, 5 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Oklahoma-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:02, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Crime-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:02, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Law-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:02, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:02, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep. While I have no strong opinion on this since the relevant material could all be addressed in some parent article or list, the subject appears to squeak by WP:GNG.[Stricken since there appears to be non-trivial coverage in at least three sources.-Location (talk) 17:24, 6 August 2014 (UTC)] French's claim to fame is that he was the last executed in Oklahoma, not in the United States, prior to Furman v. Georgia. This factoid is verifiable and has been reiterated in numerous news sources (e.g. [1], [2]). As for the order, Luis Monge was the last prior to Furman (gassed in Colorado), Aaron Mitchell (murderer) was the second to last (gassed in California), and French was the third to last (electrocuted in Oklahoma).[3] In addition to having been the last person electrocuted prior to Furman [see previous reference] and last person electrocuted in Oklahoma,[4] French was the only person executed in the US in 1966.[5] The assertion that he strangled a cellmate because he was "chicken" to commit suicide was also mentioned in a 1966 article about the APA's position on capital punishment.[6] I found an academic source indicating that he may not have killed the cellmate if Oklahoma did not have the death penalty.[7] His mocking last words have also received coverage in various books. Location (talk) 03:34, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As mentioned above, there are sources that discuss the subject unrelated to "last in Oklahoma prior to Furman". He was used as example that death penalty may not be a deterrent in hearings of a subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary discussing capital punishment.[8] He appears to have received non-trivial coverage in an article in Oklahoma Bar Journal; I cannot read the entire publication but it runs from at least page 2645[9] to 2650[10]. Additional non-trivial coverage in another book[11] as well as in the online version of The Oklahoman.[12] This material was published well past 1966, demonstrating some sort of lasting notability per secondary sources. Here is a 1966 news report: [13] Primary source appeals court decisions, not sufficient by themselves to determine notability: [14], [15], [16] Location (talk) 15:26, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep - per WP:GNG. and verifiable sources.--BabbaQ (talk) 10:48, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Actually I nominated this after seeing Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James Coburn (criminal) (2nd nomination) which resulted ina redirect of an article about a criminal with a national claim to be the "last". In the case of French we have only a Oklahoma claim and only the "last" until the next one, in 1980. Surely this is a very tenuous basis indeed for a full article about a one-time criminal? Are we going to accept similar 'last until the next one' articles for every state? Sionk (talk) 11:45, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep. Satisfies GNG. James500 (talk) 17:39, 6 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.