User talk:Dabdo

Welcome to my talk page. If I don't answer you right away, it's probably because I'm not on line every day.

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disambiguation tag

What is the difference between {{disambiguation}} and {{disambiguation|surname}}? They seem to leave the same message. Thanks... Smarkflea (talk) 16:46, 21 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The message is the same. The only difference is that it adds the page to Category:Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists. Dabdo (talk) 03:10, 22 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

New York Surrogate's Court

You moved this back to the wrong location. There is no "New York Surrogate's Court". Period. There is a type of court in the State of New York which is called a surrogate's court. That was the reason why the article was moved to the name with lower case s and c. As you can read in the article, there are about 65 surrogates in New York, at least one per county. So there are for example, the Putnam County Surrogate's Court, the Westchester County Surrogate's Court, the New York County (i.e. Manhattan) Surrogate's Court (with two surrogates), and so on, but there is absolutely no New York Surrogate's Court. On what do you base this edit summary "It's an actual court" ? Kraxler (talk) 19:51, 12 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I understand what you are saying. That is basically correct. There is a court in each county of the state of New York whose actual proper name is "Surrogate's Court": Surrogate's Court for Putnam County, etc., just as you write. The Wikipedia title "Surrogate's Court" is taken, however, as a redirect to probate court, so some disambiguation is necessary. I read the "New York" as just the state name for disambiguation purposes. "Surrogate's Court (New York)" would be equally correct. However, lower case would be incorrect as this is not just a type of court but the actual name of the court in each county. In New York, it's proper to say "Surrogate's Court is a type of probate court" (note capitalization). I'm happy to work with you to find the best title. Dabdo (talk) 03:48, 21 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You're quite mistaken, Dabdo. "Surrogate's court" is just a type of court, and should remain in lower case, and plural. The article is about the different surrogate's courts, not about any one particular court. Any particular court would be named Surrogate's Court of [X] County. The name with capitals suggest that there is one court, or a unified system of courts that handle probate matters in New York state, which is not the case. (In many counties, the county judge is also the surrogate, it depends on the number of inhabitants. The article's content is anyway a bit misleading.) The surrogate's courts have only countywide jurisdiction, the probate is handled by the surrogate at the residence of the testator, unlike the New York Supreme Court which has 13 district benches, but has statewide jurisdiction (i.e. any justice of the Supreme Court could hear cases within the State, like when State Senator Skelos sued Governor Patterson in Mineola, Nassau County, about the appointment of a Lieutenant Governor, see 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis). Please move the article back to the previous location. Kraxler (talk) 13:19, 26 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We agree the article could stand improvement, and I don't think we're really that far apart otherwise. I do believe, however, that "Surrogate's Court" is a formal proper name for this court. It's used in encyclopedias, newspapers, and by the court system itself. The generic type would be "probate court" because "surrogate's court" is used in only a few places other than New York. I understand your point that the court is organized by county, but in the real world "Surrogate's Court" is often used by itself when the county is not ambiguous. The only important source I know that uses lower case is the state constitution, but it uses lower case for all courts. If you know of others I'd be interested. I'll quote from the constitution to respond to some of what you say: "There shall be a unified court system for the state. The state-wide courts shall consist of the court of appeals, the supreme court including the appellate divisions thereof, the court of claims, the county court, the surrogate's court and the family court...." "All processes, warrants and other mandates of the court of appeals, the supreme court including the appellate divisions thereof, the court of claims, the county court, the surrogate's court and the family court may be served and executed in any part of the state." (Skelos sued in Nassau because he lived there.) Please also see my answer at User talk:Int21h. Dabdo (talk) 19:29, 26 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

While it is inconclusive and I have no sources on point about this, I have now come to believe that this court is considered by many a single court with a complicated administrative structure, including the court itself which refers to itself in the singular as the "Surrogate's Court of the State of New York" (albeit with possible different capitalization, and referring to its county). Other New York state courts seem to follow similar naming procedures. It is inconclusive but it is enough, for me, to tip the argument in favor of considering it a single court. Int21h (talk) 05:48, 6 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Barbara Hines (immigration attorney)

I have addressed the issues you flagged with Barbara Hines (immigration attorney). Do I remove the issue tag or do I wait for you to review and remove? Mbcoats (talk) 22:19, 20 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Replied on your talk page. Dabdo (talk) 05:52, 22 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom elections are now open!

Hi,
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RFC notice

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

Hello, Dabdo. Voting in the 2016 Arbitration Committee elections is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]