February 22, 2002

Realistic Penalties for Plagiarism

To the Editor:

The January 18 Hot Type regarding plagiarized passages in Stephen E. Ambrose's books attracted my attention.

Academics tend strongly toward whitewash in plagiarism, even when evidence for conviction is overwhelming. Here is the reason: Plagiarism is a capital offense; a convicted plagiarist is professionally finished. Academics are unwilling to convict because they are unwilling to kill.

Capital punishment for plagiarism should be replaced with, say, ...