Talk:Joel Steinberg

NPOV?

It's difficult to be neutral regarding the Steinberg case, but the article as it stood seemed to err on the side of caution. I have added material to characterize, very briefly, the conditions in which the Steinberg-Nussbaum household lived and the nature of Hedda Nussbaum's injuries. I wonder whether the balance of the article could not also benefit from some attention, covering the media blitz that surrounded this story among other topics. In addition, I intend to start a separate article for Hedda Nussbaum, not least because she has recently written a book presenting her side of the case and discussing her life since Lisa's death; she has also been the subject of fairly regular feature-article coverage in recent years. Robertissimo 18:46, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Is there a reason that isn't an entry on Lisa Steinberg? Whether it's lack of interest on something you just haven't gotten around to it, I think she deserves an entry. I've never made an initial article, but if it's a matter of something you haven't gotten around to yet, i'd be willing to go ahead. morgannia 16:51, 4 September 2007 (UTC) morgannia

I don't want to sound heartless here, but the reason there isn't an article on Lisa Steinberg is the same reason there aren't articles on most people: she's not notable, apart from her death, which is already covered in this article. -- Terry Carroll 07:08, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

She should have her own listing; she was in the news and someone wanting to know what happened to or who was Lisa Steinberg shouldn't have to just view it embedded in a Joel Steinberg article. "Joel Steinberg wouldn't have been notable if not for Lisa," Terry, if you want to go that route.96.224.35.171 (talk) 04:44, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Additional Info

There was also a song that became very popular in December of that same year called "Dear Mr. Jesus." While it did not directly reference Lisa Steinberg case, it was about child abuse, and the lyrics seem to reference the Steinberg case.

Jewish?

should this be included? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.174.207.132 (talk) 00:36, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Is his Judaism material to the crime, his defense, or the prosecution? If so, it should be included. TJRC (talk) 02:44, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

You are so right. I just thought because of his last name is should be included. Please consider though, his name is very Jewish.

67.174.207.132 (talk) 06:44, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

No, his name is very German. Unless you can find some source indicating he attends Jewish religious ceremonies, we know nothing more than that. Uucp (talk) 12:44, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Just to be clear -- even if he's Jewish, unless that has anything to do with anything in the article, I don't believe it would merit discussion. TJRC (talk) 20:55, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Most actors who are acting in movies that have nothing to do with being jewish, but it is included in the article, its not like they have to fight for the rights of JEWS to be considered "JEWISH" on wikipedia.

Include it —Preceding unsigned comment added by Galaxiehoon (talk • contribs) 08:05, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Actually, his Jewish heritage and that of his common-law partner Hedda Nussbaum played a huge role in the seeming inaction by city agencies and other people to possible evidence of child abuse. Throughout the entire case, one of the most common refrains was "this sort of thing doesn't happen to nice professional Jewish couples." I'll try and come up with some good references for those issues and in clude them only in quotes and cited statements. I'm gonna hold off for a bit so I can re-read What Lisa Knew: The Truth And Lies of the Steinberg case by Joyce Johnson. Out of all the books written, hers is the most accurate and detailed. her book examines the role both adults adults played and doesn't try to prove the "battered Wife syndrome" theory that was being floated at the time of Steinberg's trial.LiPollis (talk) 03:53, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

I have checked the ProQuest database and found 47 articles that include "Joel Steinberg" and "Jewish." These include a partial trial transcript in which Hedda Nussbaum said she met Steinberg at a party and was attracted to him because "he was intelligent . . . he was in a good profession, and he's Jewish, as I am. We could talk for hours." (Washington Post, Dec 11, 1988. pg. a.03)

I have not found any evidence that anybody seriously thought their Jewishness contributed to the crime, or to the authorities' failure to intervene. The closest is a 1988 editorial in the Boston Globe that suggests "They were middle-class, white, educated, Jewish, inhabitants of Greenwich Village. No matter how many researchers of family abuse report that it happens everywhere, they were not the "sort of people" we persist in associating with violence." Note that this was not any kind of official statement, just the musings of author Ellen Goodman. (Boston Globe Dec 8, 1988. pg. 15)

I see no reason for a Jewish tag on the article.

Uucp (talk) 15:21, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Yes, as a general matter, Wikipedia is in the practice of assigning nationality and ethnicity categories to people whether or not they are relevant to their notability. If challenged, the designation should be sourceable, but it's not really practical to add citations to categories, and we aren't usually in the awkward practice of adding a sourced statement of people's religion or ethnicity to every single article just to support the category. This has been discussed many times at various places in the encyclopedia. American Jews who are notable as poets, scientists, musicians, writers, etc., are all tagged accordingly, and it would be a bit misleading to leave off the criminals. It appears that the IP editor who just added the category was on a streak of anti-semitic, or at least questionable, edits relating to Jewish subjects. However, for motivations good or bad the category is appropriate and correct. In a few seconds of google research I found it is sourceable that both Steinberg and his wife are from middle class Jewish backgrounds, which makes them Jewish by ethnicity and religious law. Even if relevancy is required, there are plenty of sources that relate their Jewish background to the crime, and vice-versa. This is not in the article, but apparently they spun out into a drug-fueled addled lifestyle, full of S&M, strange dietary and mystical practices, and domestic violence. This is obviously not Judaism, but the Jewish press at the time was full of articles reviewing how a couple from seemingly conventional Jewish origins could get into that, and coming to terms with the fact that the horrible crime had been blamed on members of their community. Also, they had apparently raised their daughter Jewish (in their own way), so that at her funeral their birth mother, who was Catholic, requested that a rabbi assist with the ceremony. As a categorization and information organization matter, if Wikipedia is to have a complete list of subjects pertaining to Jewish life in America, this article is one of the many. I don't really care to add all this stuff, but if anyone wants to complete the article with some of the accounts of the time about the lifestyle, it would fill things out. - Wikidemon (talk) 17:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Incidentally, some sources on the deranged lifestyle[1][2] and Jewishness.[3][4][5] - Wikidemon (talk) 17:21, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Similar firestorms came as a result of the Jonathan Pollard affair two years earlier. The "mainstream media" went out of their minds about this. Another factor brought up was that Jews are supposed to be good and do not break the law. It is unknown were this stereotype came from. What is fact however, is that prisons are jammed full of black supremacists and white power skinheads. While the Nation of Islam and the neo-Nazis are normally at each other's throats, they both seem to hate Jews. Prison also is unkind to killers of small children. It is surprising that Steinberg made it out of prison alive. Being Jewish in a prison system full of anti-Semites is not a good thing, as Pollard learned. However, Pollard never murdered anyone. Being the double whammy of a child killer, it is still surprising that Steinberg did not summer the same fate as Jeffrey Dahmer. 69.143.110.86 (talk) 21:28, 27 August 2011 (UTC)