Lesson plan

Sheldon Silver

Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Silver served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2015. In 1994, he was elected as Speaker; he held that position for two decades. During this period, Silver was known as one of the most powerful politicians in the state. Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges in early 2015, and resigned as Speaker of the Assembly shortly afterward. At his trial that November, he was convicted of all charges; the felony convictions triggered his automatic expulsion from the Assembly. Silver's conviction was overturned on appeal, but in May 2018, following a retrial, he was found guilty on the same charges. After another appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the guilty verdicts for three of the charges but upheld them for four others. Silver was resentenced in July 2020 to years in prison and a $1 million fine. He was released on May 4, 2021 under a provision of the CARES Act, which allows prison bureaus to release those deemed vulnerable to COVID-19, but was recalled to a medical-care specialized federal prison two days later.…

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Article summary

Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Silver served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2015. In 1994, he was elected as Speaker; he held that position for two decades. During this period, Silver was known as one of the most powerful politicians in the state. Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges in early 2015, and resigned as Speaker of the Assembly shortly afterward. At his trial that November, he was convicted of all charges; the felony convictions triggered his automatic expulsion from the Assembly. Silver's conviction was overturned on appeal, but in May 2018, following a retrial, he was found guilty on the same charges. After another appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the guilty verdicts for three of the charges but upheld them for four others. Silver was resentenced in July 2020 to years in prison and a $1 million fine. He was released on May 4, 2021 under a provision of the CARES Act, which allows prison bureaus to release those deemed vulnerable to COVID-19, but was recalled to a medical-care specialized federal prison two days later.…

Key claims

  1. date of death: 2022-01-24 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of death: 2022-01-24 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. release date: 2021-05-04 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "2022-01-24". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of death is "2022-01-24". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the release date is "2021-05-04". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.