Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation

In this photo released by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Carolyn Bothwell Doran, former chief operating office for the Wikimedia Foundation, is shown after she was arrested on Aug. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Pinellas Country Sheriff's Office)

(AP) -- The foundation that runs and accepts donations for - the online encyclopedia Wikipedia neglected to do a basic background check before hiring a chief operating officer who had been convicted of theft, drunken driving and fleeing a car accident.

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• tikay - Dec 21, 2007
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
  Eh...we all make mistakes in judgment, I am still gonna have to use wikipedia for some information, it still works!
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• quantum_flux - Dec 21, 2007
  • Rank: 3.5 / 5 (2)
  Well, it sounds like she served her time in jail and didn't steal from the donation funds (yet), so they got rid of her merely because of high suspicions and bad public relations. But still, I can't believe that somebody with that kind of background had enough charisma to be voted as Wikipedia's Chief Operating Officer without falsifying her credentials and fabricating a huge lie.... I have a hard time believing that she really is related to James Boswell and that she has a husband because of her record.
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• CactusCritter - Dec 22, 2007
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (1)
  Vetting, anyone? Very unbusiness of Wikipedia not to carry out that function before hiring.
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• MarcusBrutus - Dec 22, 2007
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
  I'm sorry, but so what? The president of the united states has had a DUI.. we have had several senators/representatives who were known felons and drunkards, Dick Cheney shot someone in the face.. do I really need to bring up Marion Barry? We trust these people with the security of our nation and a woman who has currently done nothing wrong is smeared across the presses to discredit wikipedia which causes her to lose a prestigious position, and no one else finds this incredibly shady? No wonder underclass criminals become repeat offenders, you just can't catch a break... why bother?
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• Doug_Huffman - Dec 22, 2007
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  Mike Godwin, General Counsel and author of Godwin's Law!
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• Doug_Huffman - Dec 22, 2007
  • Rank: 2.5 / 5 (2)
  Splatter from G00gle's entry into the field?
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• dsl5000 - Dec 22, 2007
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (1)
  Screw it, if she is doing a fantastic job of getting things done, then let her be, unless she does cause a criminal act.
  
  Seriously, our criminal justice needs a re-map. In this current society, some criminal record automatically places the person as a semi/below citizen level. Immigrants can still get jobs, when criminals that are citizens are worse, they lose all privileges. No wonder they will commit again, because no one wants them. They are people who need work as well, with nothing to turn to, the risk is smaller then the reward, esp if vital necessities are on the line.
  
  There are always reasons for the act, listen and it may be surprisingly valid.
  
  Besides, 6 of 7 voted for her promotion and she had a part time job with them that didn't fire her earlier for any misconduct, she definitely did something right.
  
  She sounds like a run-of-the-mill college town trouble maker, just don't be her boyfriend :P
  
  The rich get away, the poor are F'd beyond belief
  The system is upsetting.
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• gopher65 - Dec 22, 2007
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  Seeing a relatively "ehhhh..." story like this put up all over the web and then staying there for days unending makes me kinda suspicious. I wonder if Google is paying to make sure this story remains on the front page.
  
  After all, we know that physorg.com posts what appear to be paid advertisements from companies like AMD and Intel as "new stories" all the time. It is a short step from sponsored news to Sponsored Smear Campaign.
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• localcooling - Dec 23, 2007
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  From what I have red about Google's "wiki-imitation", their concept will still make me consulting wikipedia in the first run to secondly go to other sources for back up or else. But just now there is no article on her in Wikipedia. I have to post one !!!
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• mariarosa6 - Dec 23, 2007
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  To quantum_flux. She's NOT related to James Boswell. She's related to James L. Bothwell and is his adopted daughter.
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