The Vanguard has learned that Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig lifted huge portions of his op-ed last week from an op-ed entitled “Justice for crime victims demands death penalty,” written by Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully with Phyllis Loya, the mother of a Pittsburg police officer whose son was murdered.
While the piece written last week by Mr. Reisig is twice the length, at least six paragraphs are directly lifted and another six are slightly altered from the piece written by Jan Scully.
The passages that are in common are common only to Ms. Scully’s piece and Mr. Reisig’s piece.
While some of the pages are identical, others have only been slightly modified. The attacks on the ACLU appear to come from Ms. Scully’s piece.
For instance, Jan Scully wrote: “The American Civil Liberties Union has waged a relentless attack on public safety in California for decades. Their goal: overturn the death penalty. Their approach has been shameful and costly, in dollars and pain for victims.”
Mr. Reisig modified it slightly to read: “Despite the will of the people, the American Civil Liberties Union and its allies have waged a relentless attack on public safety for decades, with a goal of overturning the death penalty. Their approach has been shameful and costly, in dollars and pain for victims.”
Note the identical wording in the sentences that begin with “Their approach.”
Wrote Jan Scully: “It’s the ACLU. They are responsible for endless delays, frivolous appeals and a mountain of misinformation. Now, they claim capital punishment is broken and should be repealed.”
Mr. Reisig wrote: “The ACLU and its agents are responsible for endless delays in the criminal justice system, frivolous appeals and a mountain of misinformation. And now, they claim the death penalty is irrevocably broken and costly and should be repealed.”
Wrote Ms. Scully: “This November, Californians will vote and hopefully reject the ACLU.”
Mr. Reisig wrote: “This November, Californians will vote and, we hope, reject the false campaign being marketed by the ACLU and its allies.”
Wrote Jan Scully: “Lawrence Bittaker raped, tortured and killed five teenage girls. Richard ‘the Nightstalker’ Ramirez murdered 13 innocent citizens in Los Angeles, sexually assaulting, torturing and mutilating many of his victims. Richard Allen Davis kidnapped, raped and strangled 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Serial killer Robert Rhoades kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered 8-year-old Michael Lyons as he walked home from school.”
Jeff Reisig had an identical line.
Both pieces reference the Rand Study. And both pieces write: “Former California Gov. Edmund ‘Pat’ Brown commuted the sentence of several death row inmates, including Norman Whitehorn and Eddie Wein, both of whom were later paroled, only to kill again.”
The Reisig piece, as stated, is about twice the length of Jan Scully’s piece.
The unique references are to Jerry Brown’s pronouncement that there are not innocent inmates on California’s death row, to the huge costs of lifetime prison confinement even without the death penalty, and to the unique risk of death row inmates to the state prison populations – an argument he advanced against Marco Topete. Then he gave a few specifics about the Tony Diaz family.
Click below to see the full view of the Vanguard‘s side-by-side comparison.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Is there a plagiarism law being broken, or is this just more attempt by the vanguard to harm the DAs reputation?
You have Scully and Reisig, neighboring DA’s, who are working towards the same cause. I don’t find it at all weird that there would be similarities in their op ed piece.
When is David going to blog about all the democrats running around saying, “Yes we Can.”
First, I don’t see how The Vanguard is harming the DA’s reputation. David is just reporting the news.
As for the DA’s article, I will say this: Dear, oh dear, oh dear. I am opposed to the death penalty for any crime, so I don’t recommend it for this bad behavior.
And consider this, maybe it’s not Jeff copying Jan. Maybe they are both writing from the same playbook. Like, “How to Write a Killer Op Ed”, by the California DA’s Association. Or “Ethics for Executioners” by the CA Association of Gas Chamber Technicians.
Just a thought.
Another non -story story.
[i]”Yes we Can.”[/i]
I think the new tag line is “Forward.” (with the period).
Which is the wrong thing to do standing on the edge of a cliff.
The Vanguard is getting to be very petty.
Interesting responses. Cosmo Garvin, who edits the Sac News and Review wrote on the Vanguard’s facebook page: “Wow, that’s plagiarism.” That kind of flies in the face of some of the dismissive comments.
Freddie:
“And consider this, maybe it’s not Jeff copying Jan. Maybe they are both writing from the same playbook.”
You may be correct here, but it is worth noting that so far, there are just two op-eds of the sort. Jan’s from April and Reisig’s written the day before David’s event last week. Seems a bit odd if this were merely him following the same playbook.
“he Vanguard is getting to be very petty.”
Plagiarism is a crime. It’s also a violation of the bar’s ethical policies.
Jeff: wonder if Mrs. Diaz knew her name was added to a copied piece?
Copying, without attribution, has certain connotations in our culture, and they are not positive for the writer.
It seems like the standard for a DA should even be higher?
If there was indeed laws broken by Reisig, then I think someone (pick me, pick me!) should file a complaint, have him arrested, press charges, etc.
It’s probably worth checking around CA for all of the other county’s DA’s planting the same self serving “editorial” in newspapers all around the state…
Jeff, speaking of plagiarism, isn’t “Forward” stolen from FDR?
Rusty: stay on topic please.
Right Jon, slap him in cuffs. LOL
[i]Jeff: wonder if Mrs. Diaz knew her name was added to a copied piece?[/i]
Mike: Well, I admit that this would be a key consideration if true. Why didn’t the vanguard ask her first?
I assume that the DA is a word-smart dude… most attorneys are… language, reading and writing is the basis of their profession.
I find it hard to believe that the DA would “lift” text from another to publish in a big op-ed without first getting cleared to do so from the original author.
However, I would be very interested in some journalistic investigation of this. It would be a worthy story if he did not, IMO.
Jeff:
The definition of plagiarism is not limited to what appropriation without permission, but it’s actually the act of attempting to pass off others ideas as your own:
Definition: “The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.”
David has done the very same thing in the past and I’ve pointed it out. Nearly entire paragraphs pasted into articles and passed off as Davids without giving credit to the original writer.
I’m a little surprised David would call out Reisig out on this.
As Freddie suggests, no doubt the CA DA’s association put together a template, like ALEC’s sample legislation, for DA’s around the state to use to oppose eliminating the death penalty. As with ALEC, local DA’s can then embellish the basic message whatever way they think will influence, or inflame, voters in their area.
Doubtful that is’s plagiarism, rather, the agreement is to make good use of the basic text. Reisig was probably just a little lazy about
putting the basic ideas into his own words and copied verbatim.
We already know he doesn’t do much deep thinking!
Oh, c’mon. How about the practice of writing “sample” letters to the editor for people that campaigns do on a regular basis to make sure that all points are covered? This is not research, nor is it within an educational setting, or is it journalism.
“As Freddie suggests, no doubt the CA DA’s association put together a template, like ALEC’s sample legislation, for DA’s around the state to use to oppose eliminating the death penalty.”
If that were true, there would be other DA’s doing the same thing. Scully’s piece came out over 3 months ago.
Reisig has been the only DA to use her material.
Plagiarism by the DA is a very big deal and the Vanguard is right to report on it. It amazes me how many people are so quick to jump to the defense of the DA and judges when they do wrong. Reporters get fired, students at UCD can face disciplinary sanctions with suspension and dismissal a possibility, even elementary school students receive F’s on reports. Why should we accept this behavior from a college educated professional who has no problem incarcerating people for the pettiest of crimes. It shows he feels he is above the law.
davislaw,
[i]If that were true, there would be other DA’s doing the same thing. Scully’s piece came out over 3 months ago. [/i]
Why can’t that be true? If one or two DAs write a CA DA Association drafted (template) op-ed, they all must? What makes you think that? How was it concluded that other DAs have not written similar pieces? Perhaps other DAs have not written or submitted op-eds, but will in the upcoming months?
Anyone know if it makes a difference if DA Scully permitted DA Reisig to use her op-ed, as he wished, for his own?
Themis,
[i]Plagiarism by the DA is a very big deal and the Vanguard is right to report on it. It amazes me how many people are so quick to jump to the defense of the DA and judges when they do wrong.[/i]
As Ryan pointed out, if this is a template that DAs are permitted to use, much like campaign/promote a cause template, this is a non-issue. Would you have then been too quick to jump if that is indeed the case?
I got no response from Scully’s office. I do find it interesting people’s reactions to this largely depend on their feelings of the DA. My one main objection is that he passed this off as his original thoughts, I know in the academic set this would absolutely be improper.
DMG,
[i]I do find it interesting people’s reactions to this largely depend on their feelings of the DA. [/i]
It seems that posters’ comments regarding the DA are often pretty predicable here in terms of where they’re likely to land based on their feelings about him-support or oppose him or something his office is doing.
[i]My one main objection is that he passed this off as his original thoughts, I know in the academic set this would absolutely be improper. [/i]
In terms of ethics, I think it really depends on whether or not this was a template from the CA DA Association or some other organization. Using those templates to push one’s causes is pretty common. If both DAs did utilize a template, the question then becomes, should DAs be using templates and not publish op-eds unless they’re originally written.
That’s an interesting question. Two additional thoughts. First, he got facts wrong, so his lack of original writing harms him. Second, tracie Olson did not use a template to write her response.
[quote]I got no response from Scully’s office. I do find it interesting people’s reactions to this largely depend on their feelings of the DA. My one main objection is that he passed this off as his original thoughts, I know in the academic set this would absolutely be improper.[/quote]
You’ve done the same thing. Why is it a big deal now?
I don’t believe you are correct. When I borrow from other reports, I cite the source. Now what I do sometimes is take press releases and use portions of them verbatim, that may be what you have seen. But I don’t take portions of other people’s reports and report them without attribution.
[quote]Is there a plagiarism law being broken, or is this just more attempt by the vanguard to harm the DAs reputation?[/quote]
[quote]This is not research, nor is it within an educational setting, or is it journalism.[/quote]
For me this is not a question of what is strictly legal. It is a question of intellectual honesty. My hope would be that community leaders and elected officials would choose to hold themselves to a higher standard of behavior that what is expected from the general populace. As leaders, I expect that they will lead not only in word, but also in deed. While it may not be illegal, I certainly do not believe that it is exemplary behavior to pass off the work of another as one’s own without attribution.
Why can’t that be true? If one or two DAs write a CA DA Association drafted (template) op-ed, they all must? What makes you think that? How was it concluded that other DAs have not written similar pieces? Perhaps other DAs have not written or submitted op-eds, but will in the upcoming months?
[quote][/quote]
The template theory is nonsense. There are 56 other DA’s in California who haven’t done it. Remember, the Scully opinion was published in April. Test: try googling “Norman Whitehorn” + Wein + “Pat Brown”.
DMG,
[i]That’s an interesting question. Two additional thoughts. First, he got facts wrong, so his lack of original writing harms him. Second, tracie Olson did not use a template to write her response. [/i]
1-Perhaps, I haven’t followed close enough to comment, but that’s not what I focused my comments on here.
2-Assuming that’s the case, that doesn’t mean Reisig’s op-ed was inappropriate.
davislaw,
[i]The template theory is nonsense. There are 56 other DA’s in California who haven’t done it. Remember, the Scully opinion was published in April.[/i]
The fact that only two DAs have this similar op-ed does not mean no such template exists and that no template was used. The absence of others may suggest as much, but that does not prove no template exists and no template was used by the two DAs.
One must ignore other possibilities to conclude as you have.
A couple that come to mind:other DAs have opted to write their own despite the availability of a template, DAs may intend to use a template when writing their op-ed in the future.
Superfluous Man- If the DA had to use a template to give an opinion about the death penalty or for any other criminal subject, what does that say about him? Are you telling me he can’t put his opinion in his own words? Are you saying he is illiterate or what?
What I’m saying is that it is quite common to use a template and it has not been proven that he has not done that. I’m not reading much into it as far as what using a template or portions of Scully’s op-ed, with her permission, says about the DA or his office.
If the DA used a template what does that say about him? He is like all the other politicians that can’t seem to formulate their own opinions. If he plagiarized that says something else entirely. Neither explanation speaks well for someone in the DA’s position.