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Evidence presented by Dreadstar

Unblock of Ludwigs2

Again, I apologize to the Committee. I have zero admin experience of dealing with AE blocks, and didn't realize the full implications of it. Overall, I've only made a total of four unblocks in the past two years (including this one); the other three were unrelated to AE and were of blocks made by me where the blockee gave assurances of better behavior – so I have no history of unblock abuse.

Regarding the Ludwigs unblock, I saw what appeared to be a hasty block that would increase drama, with several editors on both sides of the debate speaking out against it (and I believe no one in favor when I unblocked), so my aim was to reduce drama quickly. I apologize that my actions had the opposite effect. When I began to realize the implications of it being an AE block, I e-mailed the Committee to explain my actions. I was unsure how to proceed at that point: to reblock for the sake of process seemed wrong and unfair to the blockee, so I waited to hear from Sandstein. When he came back online he filed the case immediately, so there was no opportunity to look for another way forward.

It would be helpful to me and possibly others to clarify what conduct, in what venues, by which editors, regarding what issues, should fall under an AE restriction. I didn’t see this as being directly related to the Pseudoscience ArbCom case. Also of help would be verification that any block marked as AE be treated as AE, even if the association seems distant.

But, once again, mea culpa here, and let me assure everyone that it definitely will not happen again. Dreadstar ☥ 06:30, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by BullRangifer

We can end this right now

I think Dreadstar's statement is sufficient to end this right now with no more drama. A mistake was made because of inexperience. That's forgivable.

Now all that is needed is a statement that will prevent such things from happening again. The proper process for unblocking an AE block should be followed. The determination of whether or not to call the initial block an "AE block" isn't anyone's business but the blocking admin. If they say it was, then all other admins must AGF and not unblock without following due process. If the blocking admin has abused the "AE block" template, that's an entirely different matter.

This could be the shortest AE case in history. There is no need for more drama. We just need a clear statement for the record.

PS: Ludwig2's block should be reinstated. Due process must still be followed in this case. -- Brangifer (talk) 07:18, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by Sandstein

This section was last updated 18:08, 13 March 2011 (UTC). It may continue to be updated until the end of the deadline (if any) for submitting evidence. Please tell me on my talk page if any factual assertion made here is incorrect.

Dreadstar

Dreadstar undid a block which he knew was an arbitration enforcement action

At , Dreadstar unblocked Ludwigs2. A few lines above the unblock request I had previously added the {{uw-aeblock}} notice and a further message explaining the AE nature of the block. Dreadstar was therefore aware that he undid a block that was an arbitration enforcement action.

Dreadstar was aware of the rules governing reversals of AE actions and of the penalties for not abiding by them

The {{uw-aeblock}} notice on Ludwigs2's talk page contains a link to the ArbCom decision in the Trusilver case as well as its full operative text, which reads:

"Administrators are prohibited from reversing or overturning (explicitly or in substance) any action taken by another administrator pursuant to the terms of an active arbitration remedy, and explicitly noted as being taken to enforce said remedy, except: (a) with the written authorization of the Committee, or (b) following a clear, substantial, and active consensus of uninvolved editors at a community discussion noticeboard (such as WP:AN or WP:ANI). If consensus in such discussions is hard to judge or unclear, the parties should submit a request for clarification on the proper page. Any administrator that overturns an enforcement action outside of these circumstances shall be subject to appropriate sanctions, up to and including desysopping, at the discretion of the Committee."

Additionally, my message linked to Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Pseudoscience#Discretionary sanctions, which reads in relevant part:

"Appeals: Sanctions imposed under the provisions of this decision may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard (currently Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/Arbitration enforcement), or the Committee. Administrators are cautioned not to reverse such sanctions without familiarizing themselves with the full facts of the matter and engaging in extensive discussion and consensus-building at the administrators' noticeboard or another suitable on-wiki venue. The Committee will consider appropriate remedies including suspension or revocation of adminship in the event of violations."

Dreadstar's unblock message made reference to that decision, which indicates that Dreadstar read it. Dreadstar was therefore aware that he was not allowed to undo the AE block of Ludwigs2 except as provided for in the abovementioned decisions, and he was also aware of the potential consequences of disobeying the Committee's decisions.

Dreadstar's unblock clearly did not meet the requirements for reversing an arbitration enforcement action

Requirements set forth in the Trusilver decision

The Trusilver decision, reproduced above, requires a "clear, substantial, and active consensus of uninvolved editors at a community discussion noticeboard" to undo an AE action. The three-hour WP:AN discussion that preceded the unblock, linked to here as it was at the time of the unblock, obviously did not meet these requirements. The following editors commented in between my announcement of the block and Dreadstar's unblock announcement:

• Supporting the block:

1. Collect, . (Paul Siebert below asserts that Collect is biased because of alleged past conflicts with Ludwigs2 concerning Communism, but I neither keep track of who is on whose side in the various topic battlefields, nor do I think that it matters much here in a Pseudoscience-related matter. At any rate, a similar web of past associations and conflicts can probably be found for most people commenting both in the AN thread and on this page.)
2. Protonk,

• Not clearly supporting or opposed to the block:

1. WhatamIdoing, , does not address the block
2. Hans Adler, , possibly critical of the block ("Sandstein has decided to shoot the messenger") but does not advocate overturning it. Hans Adler was at any rate involved in the underlying dispute.
3. N419BH, , possibly supportive of the block ("WP:BOOMERANG strikes again")

• Opposed to the block:

1. SlimVirgin,
2. Short Brigade Harvester Boris, . Whether he is an uninvolved editor is open to discussion, as his contributions show that he is heavily engaged in disputes related to Misplaced Pages's coverage of science and fringe science topics.
3. The Four Deuces,
4. Xxanthippe, . Xxanthippe was involved in the underlying dispute.

Only two clearly uninvolved editors, therefore, opposed the block, while two others (three if one includes N419BH) supported it, and the whole discussion lasted only about three hours until Dreadstar unblocked Ludwigs2. No editor can argue in good faith that this constituted a "clear, substantial, and active consensus" to unblock Ludwigs2.

Requirements set forth in the Pseudoscience decision

The Pseudoscience discretionary sanctions remedy, moreover, provides that

"Administrators are cautioned not to reverse such sanctions without familiarizing themselves with the full facts of the matter and engaging in extensive discussion and consensus-building at the administrators' noticeboard or another suitable on-wiki venue" (my underlining).

Dreadstar did not do so. He did not only not wait for any consensus to emerge, as shown above, but he also made no attempt to engage me (as the blocking admin) in discussion, either onwiki or per e-mail, and he also did not engage in discussion with other editors, but simply announced his decision to unblock.

Moreover, Dreadstar's statement that he read the AN discussion as "no one in favor" of the block, which is at odds with the editors' actual comments as outlined above, indicates that Dreadstar did not even properly read the discussion and that he thereby failed to familiarize himself with the full facts of the matter, as he would have been required to.

By unblocking Ludwigs2, Dreadstar therefore did not comply with the Arbitration Committee's instructions, of which he was aware as shown above, in both the Trusilver and the Pseudoscience cases.

Dreadstar is responsible for the escalation of this matter to the Arbitration Committee

Even after his unblock, and after realizing (as he claims in his submission) his mistake, Dreadstar could have avoided the escalation of the problem by either

• reinstating the block, as he had been advised, or
• contacting me to seek my approval for the unblock or to propose another way to resolve the problem.

He did not do so. Instead, even after being advised of his mistake by another user, he replied:

"It was a very bad block and in my opinion did not properly fall under the ArbCom findings. If this goes to ArbCom, so be it." , and

"I was prepared for backlash when I did it."

Then he archived that whole talk page section, with the apparent intent of cutting off any continued discussion, and did not reply to continued messages from other users advising him of his mistake (, ).

Given that Dreadstar had thus repeatedly made clear that he was not going to undo his unblock, that he had made his decision in the full knowledge of its possible consequences, that he was not ready to discuss the matter further and that he was ready for escalation to ArbCom, any communication by me (after I came back online and read the above) would not have served any useful purpose. This left me only the possibility of a request for arbitration to remedy Dreadstar's disruption of the arbitration enforcement process.

I am not certain that Dreadstar's statement that "I waited to hear from Sandstein" can be taken at face value, because his actions (as outlined above) do not provide the slightest indication that he was interested in hearing from me - rather, the opposite.

Conclusion

The evidence above shows that Dreadstar wilfully and repeatedly held the Committee's decisions in contempt and failed to exercise the judgment expected of an administrator. Even in view of his apology, which appears honest but rather belated, some kind of tangible sanction against him is still, I think, appropriate (even if not necessarily an indefinite desysop). If no such sanctions are imposed, other administrators would not be deterred from likewise wilfully undoing AE actions or even Committee decisions, which would lead to more entirely avoidable cases of this sort, and which would also substantially undermine the authority and binding nature of the Arbitration Committee's decisions. Additionally, I predict that such a development would reduce further the willingness of administrators to engage in enforcement work.

Sandstein

My block of Ludwigs2 was within the ambit of discretionary sanctions

The discretionary sanctions remedy provides in relevant part (underlining and bracketed numbers added for reference):

"Any uninvolved administrator may, on his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working in the area of conflict (defined as articles which relate to pseudoscience, broadly interpreted) if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Misplaced Pages, any expected standards of behavior , or any normal editorial process. The sanctions imposed may include blocks of up to one year in length; bans from editing any page or set of pages within the area of conflict; bans on any editing related to the topic or its closely related topics; restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors; or any other measures which the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project.

Prior to any sanctions being imposed, the editor in question shall be given a warning with a link to this decision by an uninvolved administrator; and, where appropriate, should be counseled on specific steps that he or she can take to improve his or her editing in accordance with relevant policies and guidelines."

My block of Ludwigs2 complied with these requirements, in particular the following:

• "Uninvolved administrator": The remedy provides that "an administrator will be considered "uninvolved" if he or she is not engaged in a current, direct, personal conflict on the topic with the user receiving sanctions. Enforcing the provisions of this decision will not be considered to be participation in a dispute." I meet this requirement, as well as the more stringent requirements of WP:UNINVOLVED, because I have never been engaged in a conflict with Ludwigs2 as far as I recall. (It is possible that I did engage with him at some time in an administrative capacity, apart from my previous warning mentioned below, although I do not recall that either, and according to his block log I have not previously blocked him).
• "Editor working in the area of conflict": The thread that triggered the block was a complaint by Ludwigs2 about editing on the Pseudoscience article. Ludwigs2 has also edited that article, most recently on 4 March, in what seems to be an edit war that had to be stopped by full protection. He is therefore an editor working in the area of conflict.
• "Repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to any expected standards of behavior": The reason for the block was the following threat by Ludwigs2:

  "I'm dropping this in your lap now, because if you don't do something to get him to fly right you'll leave me with no choice except to shout him down and shut him up. I'm very capable of doing that (as some of you should be aware), but if I have to go that route things will get progressively more ugly" (italics in original).

  Announcing one's intention to "shout down" and "shut up" another editor, and that things will "get ugly" can only be construed, as even Dreadstar agrees, as a serious threat of disruption, violating WP:NPA, WP:CIVIL and WP:BATTLE as well as the Committee's particular advice to editors working in this topic area "to edit carefully, to adopt Misplaced Pages's communal approaches (including appropriate conduct, dispute resolution ) in their editing, and to amend behaviors that are deemed to be of concern by administrators".

  This threat by Ludwigs2 did not only represent serious, but also repeated misconduct, because his block log shows several blocks for similar problems (incivility, attacks etc.), of which many seem to be in the same topic area also.

• "The editor in question shall be given a warning with a link to this decision by an uninvolved administrator": Ludwigs2 received the required warning on 22 September 2008 by Elonka, an uninvolved administrator. More recently, I warned Ludwigs2 myself for a similar problem (thanks for reminding me of that, Mathsci). Additionally, prior to blocking Ludwigs2, I invited him to respond to the concerns I voiced about his threat at the AN thread, where the previous warning by Elonka was also linked to.

I did not communicate optimally with Ludwigs2 prior to blocking him, but that does not invalidate the block

While not required to by the remedy or any policy, for reasons of fairness, I always ask an editor whom I am about to sanction to comment about the concerns that have been put forward about their editing. This gives them an opportunity to explain any possible misunderstanding or to undo their problematic edits and so possibly avoid the sanction altogether.

I did so in this case as well, inviting Ludwigs2 to respond to the concerns I voiced about his threat at the AN thread. In retrospect, as I already commented at the request stage (, ), I agree that my communication could have been better:

• My message to Ludwigs2 did not explain my specific concerns but only referred to Ludwigs2's AN thread where I had explained them. The tone of the message was also not, as Casliber noted, "conducive to calming a frustrated editor down and moving forward."
• When Ludwigs2 responded without addressing the threat I had objected to, instead asking me "hunh? what are you talking about?", I should not have assumed that he was wilfully ignoring my question or failed to understand why the threat was problematic. Instead, it would have been better to give him another opportunity to respond.

I regret this miscommunication and will pay more attention to such issues in the future. Nonetheless, my messages did impart all information that would have been required for Ludwigs2 to respond appropriately, had he read my messages more attentively. In addition, pre-sanction communication of this kind is not a requirement under the discretionary sanctions remedy (although maybe it should be - I will consider making a corresponding workshop proposal). This is to say, following the remedy, I could have made a valid enforcement block without talking to Ludwigs2 at all. For these reasons, my suboptimal communication does not remove the arbitration enforcement purpose of my block, and, consequently, it does not excuse or mitigate Dreadstar's unblock.

I did not disregard a two hour period set for a response by Ludwigs2

Some submissions suggest that I gave Ludwigs2 two hours to reply to my concerns, but then blocked him before these two hours were up. That is not so. What I said to Ludwigs2 was (underlining mine):

"I will assume that you decline to respond to this concern if you do not do so within two hours of your next edit."

That is to say, I expected Ludwigs2 to reply within two hours after he indicated, by making any edit, that he was back online and editing Misplaced Pages. And indeed his response, even if it did not address the threat, was submitted within this timeframe.

It would have made no sense to expect him to answer within two hours after my message, because I had no reason to expect that he would even be online during that period.

Arbitration enforcement in general

Arbitrators wish to review AE practices in general and the use of discretionary sanctions in particular. In my opinion, the AE system is generally well-established and a benefit to the project. No major changes to the rules are therefore required, except perhaps certain tweaks and clarifications (for instance, that discretionary sanctions do apply to conduct outside of topic-related articles). This section provides evidence for this assertion.

Discretionary sanctions are frequently used

In the 14 areas where they are authorized (Misplaced Pages:Arbitration Committee/Discretionary sanctions), discretionary sanctions are regularly imposed. With respect to the Arab-Israeli conflict alone, where they are available since January 2008, a very approximate count in the enforcement log indicates that about 150 such actions (including blocks enforcing previous sanctions) have been made.

Many of these disputes, if they could not have been handled with some degree of finality through the AE system, would have needed to be addressed on community dispute resolution fora or by the Committee, usually with much more drama and effort. Also, it can be assumed that the availability of a relatively fast and authoritative framework to handle misconduct has deterred established editors in the respective topic areas from much confrontational behavior. Without AE, therefore, the number of escalating disputes may well have been higher.

Discretionary sanctions are seldom overturned

Also using the Arab-Israeli conflict area as an example, according to the enforcement log, only 7 of the about 150 enforcement actions seem to have been changed by somebody else than the admin who made them, or as a result of an appeal discussion in a public forum:

No AE sanction that I know of has been overturned by the Arbitration Committee or Jimbo Wales.

This indicates that most discretionary sanctions seem to be considered appropriate (or at least not clearly inappropriate) by the wider community and the Committee, in the cases where they are appealed at all.

Discretionary sanctions are subject to review by a well-established appeals system

Under the rules instituted by the Committee in the Trusilver case in March 2010 (as quoted at WP:AEBLOCK), users subject to discretionary sanctions can appeal to the sanctioning admin, to the committee or to a community noticeboard discussion (which requires a "a clear, substantial, and active consensus of uninvolved editors" to overturn). Since then, the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}} exists to provide structure to such appeal discussions. Its use is explained in the WP:AE edit notice and at WP:AEBLOCK, which is linked to from the AE block notice template, {{uw-aeblock}}. Users are therefore well-informed about the venues of appeal. The appeal template has been used 19 times in the AE archives. I am not aware of any appeal discussion derailing or of the result of any appeal discussion being contested.

Discretionary sanctions are generally accepted

I am not aware of any community discussion (such as a WP:RFC) that has expressed community discontent with the system of discretionary sanctions as instituted by the Arbitration Committee, or any particular aspect of it, such as the "Trusilver" restriction on undoing enforcement actions, the appeals framework or the enforcement practices of any administrator. As is to be expected, there have been expressions of discontent by users affected by individual enforcement actions and their friends.

Evidence presented by Ludwigs2

I'm breaking my evidence down into three sections, for clarity and convenience. The sections cover the following topics, for the following rationales:

1. That QuackGuru was tendentiously engaged in promoting overt synthesis from publish sources.
   • This is intended to show that my wp:AN thread was neither frivolous nor out-of line.
2. That Sandstein made no effort whatsoever to examine the context of the wp:AN complaint, but instead trumped-up an excuse that would allow him to immediately jump to sanctions.
   • This intended to show that Sandstein acted with deliberate bad faith with respect to me and with respect to the interests of the encyclopedia
3. That Sandstein and other editors have a pattern of intimidating editors (through harassment or sanctions) in order to exclude or deter them from presenting disliked content perspectives on fringe articles.
   • This is intended to demonstrate that this is a broad systemic problem, rather than simple administrative misjudgment, to make it clear that stronger measures are necessary to remedy the problem. --Ludwigs2 16:27, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

QuackGuru aggressively promoted synthesis from published sources

This section is intended to show that QuackGuru (talk · contribs) was explicitly engaged in synthesis from published sources on the pseudoscience article, and to suggest that this is an established pattern of behavior. I say 'explicitly' rather than 'deliberately' because I am not entirely certain that QG understands the policy on synthesis, or that he is in fact engaged in it - this despite a variety of interactions with him on issues related to SYN.

QuackGuru's overt synthesis in this particular case

The contested passage was originally added by QuackGuru here in December 2010 (one month after the publication of the article, incidentally), and was removed by me as inappropriate in the next edit - - with a discussion begun in talk. The passage has gone through a number of revisions, removals and changes since then, but none of the changes addressed the actual problem of synthesis.

This claim comes from the following abstract, which I include in its entirety (collapsed) for easy reference:

Things to note about this abstract:

• The initial 'pseudoscience, superstitions, and quackery' statement - which is what was quoted in wikipedia - only appears in the abstract, and is not part of the article itself
• The article is clearly an article about cognitive distortions that lead to erroneous beliefs, and not an article about pseudoscience itself.
• The experiment in the article clearly (sentence 6) deals specifically with quackery
• The article is a psychology article in a psychology journal, and is consequently not reliable for discussing pseudoscience in general (except in the specific vein of possible cognitive distortions)
  • It's doubtful that this source is even reliable for discussions of medical quackery - there's no indication that any of the authors are MDs - but the idea that medical quackery might pose a health risk is so common-sensical that I probably would not have opposed the source on that narrow ground

However, this quotation - "Pseudoscience, superstitions, and quackery are serious issues that are a threat to the public" - was placed in the overview of the pseudoscience article in such a way that it could only be interpreted to mean that all pseudoscience was a threat to the public. That is not true to the source's intent, is not tracaeble to other sources, nor is it even remotely consistent with common sense. As I pointed out in talk -, - UFOlogy, parapsychology, cryptozoology, cold fusion, and a host of other pseudoscientific topics pose no conceivable threat to the public.

N.b. Mathsci produced an older statement that says much the same thing as this except adds a phrase about public science education. That makes more sense - all pseudoscience raises concerns about public science education (which does not qualify as a 'threat' but is worth noting), and some medical pseudoscience creates a more direct risk to the public. However, that does not justify the use of this passage in this way

QuackGuru's tendentious behavior with respect to promoting this synthesis

This source was repeatedly reintroduced to the article in that capacity, mostly by QG, but also by a number of drive-by editors. To give an idea of the talk page tendentiousness, here is a fairly typical exchange (please forgive the heat in one of my responses - this was in the third month of repetitions of this same kind of argument, and was one day before I decided to take a day-long chill-out break from the page):

• QG claiming that the source 'literally says' this, so the quote is relevant.
• L2 noting that no one is saying that the source doesn't 'literally say' that, but that it's a misrepresentation to use the quote this way.
• QG asserting that my objection is a personal bias, and that we have to stick to what the source 'literally says' without interpretation of context.
• L2 (somewhat heatedly) pointing out - again - that no one is questioning what the source 'literally says', but that the source is not reliable for or relevant to the pseudoscience article, and is being taken out of context and used for original research.
• QG simple contradiction - saying the source is relevant and is not taken out of context, and accusing me of making 'vague' objections.
• L2 - pointing out that I have made several clear and relevant objections, that he is just refusing to acknowledge.
• QG simple denial that I have made any argument at all.

In short: QuackGuru was pushing for a literal reading of a non-significant portion of the abstract of an article on a completely different topic, just so he could say something damaging about pseudoscience as a whole. It's about as clear a case of wp:original research as I have seen, and his single-mindedness in pursuing it is almost Olympian in scale.

QuackGuru's long-term problems on fringe articles

QuackGuru has a long history of problematic editing on fringe article. This has led to to 11 blocks, 3 wikiquettes, 1 RFC/U, and 21 Administrative threads in which he was the subject. This was all detailed when I asked for a community ban for him in decmber, 2010. almost all of these concerns the same kind of behavior at pages relating to alternative medicine, or policy pages where he tries to defend or institute the context-free literalism that he advocates for as shown above). A typical contribution to Chiropractic, for instance - that being one of his most frequently edit pages - consists of him trying to remove or reinsert sources under MEDRdue to reliability, with no explanation of what that might mean to him and a complete failure to acknowledge requests for explanation or opposing arguments , , , or further applications of literalistic reasoning and accusations that other editors are using OR by trying to interpret the text in context , .

I could go on with a vast number of further diffs, and will if requested, but the main issue here is that my complaint agains QG was not only reasonable (as demonstrated above) but also consistent with problems that have arisen extensively in QG's editing career.

Sandstein's block was unjustified and combative

This section is intended to show that Sandstein (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) entered this situation with the clear and singular intent of blocking me, on whatever pretext possible. It is an obvious abuse of his administrative powers, which is only magnified by the fact that there is no evident reason for the abuse

Sandstein's actions detailed

The original statement that caused this was the last paragraph of this diff, repeated here for convenience:

So, you guys want to keep QuackGuru around as an editor - okayfine. Now, tell me how to get him to use even a modicum of common sense and reason so that we can have a proper discussion on the page. I'm dropping this in your lap now, because if you don't do something to get him to fly right you'll leave me with no choice except to shout him down and shut him up. I'm very capable of doing that (as some of you should be aware), but if I have to go that route things will get progressively more ugly. We don't want that (or at least I don't), so give me another solution.

I am aware and have admitted that this paragraph reeks of frustration, and I subsequently redacted the last half at Dreadstar's request, but read in whole like this, the paragraph cannot reasonably be construed as a threat towards anything. It's simply an unpleasant moment of venting at the end of a long, fairly reasonable description of a behavioral problem I was experiencing at an article. However, note the progression of Sandstein's actions:

1. In this post, Sanstein:
   • Dismisses the substantive element of the complaint with a glib "As far as I can tell, this is a content dispute", despite the fact that I specifically described behavioral issues and pointed out my concerns over them.
   • Misquotes me by omitting the beginning and end of that paragraph (the parts where I ask for help on how to get QG to use common sense, and state that I want some other alternative than escalation of the conflict).
   • Asks me to "show cause why I should not be sanctioned", implying that he has already decided to sanction me unless I give some undisclosed response.
2. Sandstein follows this with a post on my talk page in which he:
   • Repeats his demand that I "show cause why I should not be sanctioned".
   • Makes an extremely bad faith assumption that I will not respond, and dictates a two hour time limit in which I must respond to his point or be sanctioned regardless.
3. Again tries to direct attention away from the discussion of QuackGuru in wp:AN.
4. Blocks me, simply because I requested further information in talk rather than doing whatever never-specified thing would have satisfied him.
   • Note that in his block notice, he cites the problem as being an effort to "coerce administrators into taking action against an opponent", but then returned to the "making threats against other editors" rationale. Neither is true, but I believe he felt the latter wold be easier to sell under policy.
5. Adds a comment to wp:AN, saying:
   • "Did not withdraw or address the complaint" - obviously, since I was blocked before I could do so, or even figure out what he wanted.
   • "Considering their block log, in order to prevent such conduct from recurring...", despite the fact that my block log has only two entries since 2008 (one for 20 minutes and one for 25 minutes), both due to similar bad blocks.

From his very first post on this thread, it is eminently clear that Sandstein had no interest whatsoever in considering any potential policy violations or behavioral problems relating to QuackGuru, and in fact had no thought in his head at all except for blocking me. He began with the assertion that he was going to block me unless I 'showed cause' why he shouldn't, he misrepresented my statement to make it look more blockable, he never explained what 'showing cause' might mean so that I might address or redress the problem, he dismissed the possibility that there could be any valid complaints against QG and focused himself entirely on me, and he placed the whole thing under the AE rubric so that he could have more leeway to block me and could make the block 'stick' no matter how bad the block was.

Really, it was just pure bullying.

On the (ir)relevance of AE sanctions

Much of Sandstein's argument relies on the fact that he was entitled to 'use his discretion' under the AE sanctions about where and when they could be applied. As I understand it, however, the breadth given to administrators under AE sanctions was intended to prevent editors from exporting fights from one article to another article. In other words, it was to prevent an editor at (say) 'Cold Fusion' from avoiding ArbCom sanctions by moving to an article like 'Nuclear Fusion' and continuing disruptive arguments there, or creating a new article to house the same disruptive arguments. I can see a certain sense in allowing AE to apply to content noticeboards (if it were done very carefully, so as not to inhibit editors from using content noticeboards), but trying to apply AE sanctions to administrative noticeboards is bizarre and counterproductive. Administrative noticeboards are explicitly for discussion of behavioral and policy problems. I do not believe the committee intended to make reporting potential problems to administrators sanctionable under their auspices. Doing so would inhibit editors from raising valid concerns for discussion, and ultimately cause worse problems on articles in the long run.

I'm fairly certain that Sandstein is aware of this - I don't see how he could not be, given the amount of AE work he does. I think he tried it because he knew that he could not have made the block stick if he blocked me under conventional procedures - i.e., he knew that any such block would have been undone as yet another bad block in a matter of a few minutes. This is supported by the fact that numerous editors objected to the block immediately after he committed it. It's unfortunate and disturbing that he decided to try to up-the-ante that way.

Also, given the unwavering beeline that Sandstein made towards blocking me (as described above), it is farcical to claim that he is an uninvolved admin. Clearly, an uninvolved admin would have asked me to redact the problematic line and gone on to evaluate the merits of the claim being made - that's just cool-headed, common sense behavior. I have no idea what Sandstein's involvement is, mind you, but I do not believe that any objective observer could look at his actions towards me and interpret them as neutral, reasonable, and disinterested. I think we have to use QUACK here, based on his behavior, and assert that he is in fact (somehow) an involved admin who is obscuring his reasons for involvement.

Pattern of using unjustified sanctions against editors on fringe article

This section is intended to show that there is a distinct and irrational prejudice against editors who have (for whatever reason) been labeled as fringe, and that this results in a general atmosphere of hostility and aggression, and an unfair and disproportionate application of sanctions by some administrators. This produces content biases that are just shameful for an encyclopedia, as editors who are willing to give fair shrift to fringe topics are blocked, banned, or harassed off of fringe topic articles.

Ongoing hostility towards anyone perceived as being 'fringe'

The early responses to the wp:AN thread that started this problem include the following:

• an administrator ignoring any potential problems with QG and suggesting that I banned from editing policy (assumedly from edits I made at wp:NPOV trying to rationalize it so that QG's kind of literalistic synthesis would be discouraged)
• kww suggesting that 'pseudoscience advocacy' should be a blockable offense in and of itself.
• Kww (in response to my suggestion that he was not being serious), claiming that he is, and that the best way to relieve QG's frustration would be to block me. (I'm ignoring for the moment his poor assessment of science editing on wikipedia - I may deal with that in a later section).

Note, incidentally, that this fairly overt threat against me went unnoticed by admins.

This is a typical type of experience for any editor who works on fringe articles. 'anti-fringe' editors and admins (I could make a short list of about 20 that I run into with regular frequency) have a decidedly 'us-or-them' attitude: they have no problem labeling other editors as advocates and treating them like opponents, they work in tandem to revert changes on a kneejerk basis, they threaten and apply sanctions disproportionately, and harass other editors with impunity. It's not uncommon for me to spend days being berated and insulted by a coterie of anti-fringe editors without any administrators commenting, but then receive a stern warning within minutes of saying something intemperate. Frankly, if I weren't such a stubborn ass I'd have left wikipedia long ago - one needs to have cojones the size of bowling balls to edit fringe topics on wikipedia, because it is simply one aggravating event after another. This issue with QG, for instance: I report an en clair act of tendentious original research (no one thus far has even bothered to try to suggest that QG's actions were correct), but rather than administrators and editors showing concern that fallacious information was being pushed into an article, QG's behavior is dismissed and ignored and numerous people focus their efforts on trying to sanction me for pointing out QG's policy violation.

A similar case occurred with Littleolive oil (talk · contribs) a few weeks previously. olive received a 3-month topic ban under AE rules from NuclearWarfare (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA). This topic ban (as I argued) was not based on any real problem, and the ostensible reason - a short editing tussle over a passage - was clearly insignificant, and clearly prompted by meatpuppets (drive-by editors who had never edited the article before, but showed up in rapid succession to revert Olive's changes). Further, Olive's behavior was always polite and reasonable, while anti-fringe editors on the same article (especially Jim62sch (talk · contribs), who was the only person directly admonished by arbcom in the TM arbitration), were generally allowed to be rude and uncooperative on the talk page. However, before I could get an explanation for the ban or an accounting of these issues Sandstein closed Olives appeal citing procedural grounds.

<more to follow...>

Habitual use of trumped-up AE sanctions against editors on fringe articles

This section is a placeholder - I personally know of my case (in which Sandstein used AE to give an inappropriate block) and the case of Littleolive oil (talk · contribs) - in the archives (In which Sandstein closed the case in the midst of a discussion over whether it was an inappropriate AE topic ban). I will need to take some time over the week, however, to dig more thoroughly through Sandstein's AE actions, and the actions of other admins that he has supported.

A comment on fringe issues, or why I am in the anti-fringe camp's bad books

Just so we are clear on why I get such trouble from anti-fringe editors...

I follow a "gorilla cage" model for editing fringe articles. In short, I believe that when readers come to wikipedia to read about fringe topics, they do so in the same spirit as people who go to zoos to see gorillas. In that sense, we should handle fringe articles the same way that modern zoos handle gorillas - display them in something akin to their natural context, but ensure that there is sufficient 'caging' (barriers between the thing and the viewer) so that people can understand the thing-as-it-is without the danger of being caught up in it. I see this as a decent balance between the advocate's route (which basically tries to subsume the reader into the "gorilla's" worldview), and the skeptical route (which basically wants to throw the gorilla into a 6x6 steel and concrete cage, with huge signs that say "this is a stupid, ugly, and dangerous animal, so keep away!").

Unfortunately, numbers of anti-fringe editors see any effort to display fringe topics in a natural context as advocacy and oppose it militantly, and anti-fringe editors are cliquish and automatically defend each other against any perceived threat. The result is that it no longer matters how reasonable, accurate, well-sourced, informative, or intelligent any of my actions might be; I am more-or-less permanently classified as a 'fringe advocate' and am opposed on almost everything I do in a heavy-handed and thoughtless manner. This is aggravated by the fact that I am generally rational and often correct with respect to policy and common sense - rather than making things easier, this just gets people angry at me (understandably, because no one likes to be corrected on rational grounds, and I'm not particularly gentle on such matters). I have resigned myself to the fact that editing fringe articles will always be a painful process of repeating the same reasoned arguments to a dozen different hostile editors for every small change I want to make, but ArbCom should be aware that few editors have my inner resources for dealing with this kind of crap, so the attrition rate amongst editors on fringe articles is more than likely extraordinarily high.

Evidence presented by Hodja Nasreddin

Sandstein works by the rules

You should not punish an administrator (or any other user) who follows your instructions and rules, no matter what his "mentality" might be. Sandstein is also generally willing to ask for a piece of advice from others , discuss the issues, and modify decisions . It appears that Ludwigs2 made a statement that may be perceived a threat, exactly as Sandstein said.

How to improve the system

DGG said: AE "is therefore the special province of a few self-selected administrators. If one of them has bad judgment, the system collapses." Yes, the system needs improvement. You can make the following:

1. Ask that any block or ban longer than a week in the area of discretionary sanctions should be posted for discussion at AE, rather than applied by an individual administrator
2. Appoint a group of experienced and trusted administrators who agree to work at AE
3. Sanctions should be taken by consensus of at least three administrators from the group;
4. These sanctions should not be undone by individual administrators, but only based on appeal and new consensus at AE.
5. Make sanctions more constructive by providing the following clear guidelines: (1) someone who was engaged in edit wars should be issued only 1RR restriction for a couple of months, but not topic ban; (2) someone who was uncivil should be given only a brief (2-3 days) block; (3) never issue topic bans longer than 2-3 months for a good content contributor; keep such bans only for obvious SPA.

Evidence presented by Stephan Schulz

Sandstein lacks the self-reflection and flexibility to administer AE-blocks

See , where he process-wonks and wiki-lawyers without any substantial understanding of the situation or his role in it. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:56, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Special status for AE blocks is, at least, problematic

When undoing of a clearly disproportionate block leads to this mess, something in the process is broken. I believe its the special status awarded to AE blocks that any admin can create at his whim. "We'll eventually reign in serial abusers" is a noble idea, but it does not help the affected user. This tool is too sharp to let in the hand of individual people. Misplaced Pages has run for years on the definition that "a ban is a block that no single admin undoes". If AE blocks need special protection (which I doubt), require "any three admins", but not "consensus" (which, in contentious areas, is naturally hard to come bye, and a fuzzy concept to star with) or "ArbCom" (which typically takes days). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:56, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Dreadstar shows reasonable behavior

...e.g. here, although he is a bit defensive. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:56, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by Paul Siebert

Sandstein's statement that both editors who supported the block were uninvolved is questionable

By writing that "only two clearly uninvolved editors, therefore, opposed the block, while two others (three if one includes N419BH) supported it" , Sandstein was not completely correct. L2 and Collect have been extensively involved in disputes on several Communism related WP pages, such as Communist terrorism and Mass killings under Communist regimes. It is not a secret that the users working in this area frequently display more or less pronounced partisan behaviour, and, taking into account that Collect and L2 definitely belong to the opposing camps, Collect can hardly be considered as a neutral uninvolved party in a discussion about the L2 block. The examples of their disputes went to archives now, but they can be found, e.g., there , there , , etc. I do not know if Dreadstar was aware of that fact, but in actuality only one editor who supported the block was clearly uninvolved. Taking into account that Sandstein seems to monitor the Communism related articles, they should be aware of the opposition between these two editors.
For sake of objectivity, I believe I have to explain that, since I myself also frequently participate in Communism related disputes, and since L2 and I belong to the same camp, I cannot be considered as an uninvolved party. Nevertheless, I believe that the above information should be taken into account.

Evidence presented by DGG

The various statements above give the diffs; I attempt to show the underlying logic. If this is in the wrong place, & should go in the talk page, please move it there. This area of WP is one in which I have little experience; I would only saying something here if it appears to be needed to avoid an exceptionally unacceptable and inequitable result.

The underlying dispute

a.QuackGuru was unequivocally wrong on the underlying dispute. Trying to use the rather vague introductory sentence in the abstract as evidence of anything about pseudoscience i general is absurd on the face of it. The article is not a study of pseudoscience, or of its harmful effects, whether respecting one particular pseudoscientific belief, and certain not of all of them collectively. QG's use of it was selective quotation, the art of finding a sentence which says what you want to say, if looked at narrowly and out of context.
b.The consensus in the discussion was that this use was wrong, but it was impossible to convince QG, who was basically exhibiting IDON'THEARTHAT, otherwise known as sout denial regardless of the evidence, a method which can only succeed by intimidation.
c.Ludwigs2 was merely expressing his frustration at the situation. The most that can be read into his statement is an attempt to urge someone to either ignore QG or to block him. Warning that one might request of block of someone exhibiting obstructive behavior is not a threat, but a proper action
d.Sandstein's block is thus simply wrong.

The specific AE procedure here

e. Saying something is AE does not make it so, unless it is reasonably justified. // f.Any admin may and should undue an invalid action of another admin., and therefore in terms of the actual situation Dreadstar was fundamentally justified in doing so.
g.Under the current wording of AE, however, he was not permitted to do so.
h.The current wording of AE is thus counterproductive in this situation, and IAR supersedes it. i.Dreadstar was courageous enough to take action accordingly, and should be commended. The technical violation was justified.

The general procedure of AE

j.In a situation where there are 700 active admins, a system that lets any one of them take action that cannot be readily reversed is unstable. k.It can only work when there is very general agreement on what action to take, or where most admins have enough sense not to assume the full authority they are technically permitted to assume. l.Most admins do have the sense to avoid AE, and it is therefore the special province of a few self-selected administrators. m.If one of them has bad judgment, the system collapses. n.The only way we can preserve it is by sanctioning admins who abuse it. I wish I could suggest of a replacement system less subject to abuse, but I am not able to do so.

@Collect. You ask "should arb com enforce its dicta?" The answer (as Ocaasi & Johnuniq & HJMitchell say also) is that Arb Coms's dicta & methods are incapable of equitable use in difficult circumstances. Yes, Arb Com may choose to either enforce its dicta or to do justice. If it does the first, the Arb Enforcement system must be replaced by the community because it is being used wrongly; if they choose the second, it must be replaced because it cannot be used rightly. DGG ( talk ) 19:21, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by Ocaasi

I'm marginally involved, as a frequent advocate of Ludwigs' anti-excessive-skepticism, a critic of QG's editing style, and an editor at Pseudoscience.

Ludwigs' language was used out of frustration, in the context of requesting help

• I believe Ludwigs' comment was not a meaningful threat, just a statement of intention to go argue his point vociferously. I think that despite the unfortunate choice of words, it was an empty threat, and was accompanied by an open request to the community to pursue the problem within procedures. Also, Ludwigs is not always calm, but he's clearly not an idiot, and going around guns blazing at AN would have been beneath his judgment. In the context of seeking help at AN, the language could have been cautioned while taking it as mere venting on the way towards dispute resolution.
• Ludwigs could chill a bit on the rhetoric.

Sandstein's block set a confusing timetable which he did not stick to

• Sandstein's block was within reasonable discretion, but there was an added component of a self-imposed 2 hour time limit (Request for response: 21:54, March 8, 2011), which was not heeded (Block: 23:33, March 8, 2011). There was an intermediary response by Ludwigs asking for clarification, which I assume Sandstein took as just him being obtuse, since Sandstein did not answer Ludwigs' request. If there is clarification on the appropriateness of an AE block here, it should also include some statement about whether and how administrators should go about setting up preconditions for blocks, and if not following them is grounds for overturning a block.

QuackGuru's editing may be a problem but this case is not the place to address it

• QG needs some closer eyes, but this case is not the forum for it and doing so would turn a minor situation in to a mess. Wait for an RFCU.
• I have no comment on the underlying WP:V/WP:WEIGHT/WP:SYN issue that was ongoing at Pseudoscience. That is a content matter for the article, not here. Even if QG was beyond obviously wrong, Ludwigs' statement and subsequent block/unblocks would not depend on that.

Something's wrong with the AE block system

• There is a misalignment between any administrator being able to issue an AE block without barely any process and the prohibition on any other administrator overturning that block without a significant amount of process. This mismatch will likely lead to more IAR unblocks and more of these situations without either: a) some clarification; b) more process required to issue an AE block; or c) clear sanctions for Dreadstar (not my preferred option). If Arbs intend to sanction Dreadstar here, I recommend it in be accompanied by a change to the AE block template stating, in bold letters, Administrators: This is an Arbitration Enforcement block. Do not unblock without communicating with the blocking Admin or obtaining clear consensus from uninvolved Admins. No small text, just make it obvious.

Ocaasi (talk) 02:51, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by Johnuniq

Like DGG above, I believe adequate diffs have already been given and want to present my analysis of the logic of the case, and would also welcome having this moved to the talk page if it is inappropriate here.

AEBLOCK does not have draconian power: it only requires that an unblocking admin wait for a few hours while consensus is reached. It is conceivable that an admin could go rogue and block Jimbo citing AEBLOCK, or a compromised admin's account could make similarly unhelpful blocks. However, this case cannot be regarded as requiring an emergency override of the blocking admin, regardless of whether the block was incorrect.

A discussion at AN will be seen by many editors, and there would be a clear consensus to overturn a bad block within a few hours. Sandstein blocked Ludwigs2 at 23:28, 8 March 2011 and Dreadstar unblocked 3¼ hours later at 02:42, 9 March 2011. When Dreadstar unblocked, the AN discussion looked like this (02:44, 9 March 2011); there were four "overturn" statements, and I count three "keep" (Collect, Protonk, and Franamax), as well as three comments with no clear overturn/keep. Those numbers are not sufficient to claim a clear consensus.

AEBLOCK is dead if it can be overruled by IAR or a weak consensus after 3¼ hours. AEBLOCK must be revoked, or there must be at least a minor sanction. If AEBLOCK is revoked, an admin could immediately reverse an AE block and be fully protected by WP:WHEEL. The problems with that situation should be apparent, while the only problem with keeping AEBLOCK is that the unblocking admin has to wait for a significant period and a significant consensus (perhaps AEBLOCK could present a brief guideline about that). Johnuniq (talk) 07:45, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by Xxanthippe

I have been an occasional editor of the pseudoscience article but gave up after the antics of QuackGuru; however I continued to watch the page. The block of Ludwigs2 by Sandstein was neither justified nor (Wiki)legal. The block violated the principles of natural justice and due process. In all jurisdictions of the English-speaking world the accused is given a clear statement of the charges against him at the start of the process. Ludwigs2 was entitled to similar consideration, whether or not other editors, found the charges to be "clear". Such explanation was not given when asked for. Sandstein invented his own process and then violated it by blocking before the end of the period he granted. It was doubtful if any offence was committed in the first place and the penalty was wildly disproportionate. Sandstein's claim of an AE on an AN page is spurious Wikilawyering. The block was void both in terms of Wikilaw and natural justice and Dreadstar was correct to remove it. Xxanthippe (talk) 08:39, 13 March 2011 (UTC).

@Ocaasi. The root cause of this mess is the disruptive editing of QuackGuru, which set off Ludwig2's rather short fuse. Anybody can edit Misplaced Pages, but it takes inordinate effort to deal with those who do so inappropriately. I shrink from another layer of bureaucracy and think it would be better to deal with QuackGuru's editing here. I suggest a ban on pseudoscience topics, broadly construed. Xxanthippe (talk) 00:07, 14 March 2011 (UTC).

Evidence presented by Mathsci

Arbitration enforcement is a difficult and thankless job

It is often a difficult task to determine how to apply specific guidelines resulting from an ArbCom case, since they are often tailored to specific individuals implicated in a particular case. In almost all cases, administrators have been fair-minded and cautious. This particular incident is no exception. Since the conduct problem involved here was not an isolated incident and was on an article covered by a previous ArbCom case, Sandstein's block was not an overreaction. As far as administrators are concerned, both Sandstein and Dreadstar have done excellent work. Dreadstar is probably more flexible than Sandstein, who tends to stick to the letter of the law. Since only a relatively short block was concerned here and both administrators have almost immediately willingly come forward with what they perceived as their own different shortcomings, no action against either seems appropriate beyond reminders and advice for future actions.

Background prior to Sandstein's block

Ludwigs2 has received two explicit warnings under WP:ARBPSEUDO:

• - warning and logged notification from in September 2008 from Elonka. The notification included the statement: Generally, the next step, if an administrator feels your conduct on pages in this topic area is disruptive, would be a warning, to be followed by the imposition of sanctions (although in cases of serious disruption, the warning may be omitted). Hopefully no such action will be necessary.
• - unlogged official warning in January 2011 from Sandstein about conduct related to WP:ARBPS with reference to all pages on wikipedia, including noticeboards. This was as a result of this comment to Stephan Schulz : I don't know whether you are doing it intentionally, but you are presenting a prime example of the kind of myopic, self-entitled chauvinism that's a hallmark of Misplaced Pages science mavens.

In several other topics, many of them controversial, Ludwigs2 has received multiple warnings for uncivil comments that often verge on personal attacks. Here are some recent examples:

• Misplaced Pages:Wikiquette alerts/archive99#User:Ludwigs2 - incident in February with Collect (talk · contribs)
• - it is pointed out to Ludwigs2 that he has been uncivil to Professor marginalia in this thread on Misplaced Pages talk:Town sheriff, Ludwigs2's project to reform wikipedia
• - civility problems with QuackGuru
• - warning on talk page related to uncivil comment advocating rape on WT:RD, reported at Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive636#User:Ludwigs2 / refdesk
• - civility warning from Jayjg about phrase kindly get your heads out of whatever orifice you have them stuck in used on Talk:Messianic Judaism
• Talk:Intelligent design/Archive 62#Article changes under consideration - warnings from multiple editors about confrontational conduct on Talk:Intelligent design
• - warning from Killerchihuahua and Dave souza about making personal attacks and threats on wikipedia, as Ludwigs2 did here , , , (to KC: I'm always amazed at how neurotic people get when you ask them to be reasonable and rational.)
• - warning in January from Hrafn about unduly personalised comment

Evidence presented by HJ Mitchell

"Hasty and ill-considered"

Somebody on the requests page (I forget who exactly, but make yourself known and I'll attribute you) used the words "hasty and ill-considered" to describe the original block which sparked this slightly odd chain of events. I think those four words (or are compound adjectives one word?) sum this whole business up with amusing accuracy.

Ludwigs' original post on AN, in which he made what Sandstein believed to be a threat, was certainly ill-considered. I think he acknowledges, with the benefit of hindsight, that he should have made an effort to present his point in a calmer manner. Sandstein then blocked Ludwigs on the basis of what he perceived to be a threat. I believe that Sandstein was absolutely sincere in his belief that he was upholding the principles of the psuedoscience case, but the block was certainly "hasty and ill-considered". I don't think Sandstein was adequately clear (something which he acknowledges, I think, in his own evidence) in the AN thread that he was considering sanctioning Ludwigs under the discretionary sanctions, not least because the issue was buried (no fault of Sandstein's) among other posts on the original issue Ludwigs brought to AN. Nor do I think that he gave adequate consideration to whether sanctions would serve to resolve or de-escalate the situation or whether it would merely fan the flames. Following the block, Dreadstar made the third "hasty and ill-considered" move in this saga by unblocking Ludwigs without a clear consensus at AN and without discussing the matter with Sandstein. To top it off, Sandstein then filed a "hasty and ill-considered" request for arbitration, without (correct me if I've missed it) attempting to discuss the matter with Dreadstar.

HJ's conclusions

I think it would be most unhelpful for the Committee to apportion blame here. I think it should try to guide all involved into learning lessons from it.

Sanstein is a very good administrator who does a hell of a lot of valuable work in an area which can be very challenging. However, I'm not the first person to remark that Sandstein is very "by the book" and seldom departs from The Book™, something which can be useful at AE, where admins often have to decide on whether something is a violation of a ruling in very black-and-white terms. I do think, though, that he applies The Book™ to situations where it might be better ignored and that this is one such situation—a better approach would have been a friendly note on Ludwigs' talk page asking if he wouldn't mind dialling down the language so the discussion on the issue at AN could proceed. The block was (imo) within the bounds of the discretionary sanctions, but that doesn't make it the best course of action.

Dreadstar is another very good administrator. Dreadstar's unblocking of Ludwigs at that point in time was not a good idea, but I think it would be discourteous not to take him (sorry, assuming, please correct me if necessary) at his word that he didn't fully realise the gravity of blocks under discretionary sanctions.

I would assert that this highlights the weakness of discretionary sanctions. They can be extremely useful and, in the Israel-Palestine dispute for one, I would say they are essential to maintaining some sense of decorum. However, I think ArbCom has come to be overly-reliant on them and thus on administrators to do the dirty work, so to speak. It's also my view that the current system places far too much faith in the judgement of the imposing admin, but then completely discounts the judgement of any other individual admin who may disagree. Admins are expected to have good judgement, but admins are human and we all cock up from time to time—that goes for Sandstein, Dreadstar and, in no small part, myself, so it seems odd to place such a high value on the judgement of one person being impeccable.

My recommendations, in short, are for ArbCom to seriously consider:

1. Implementing some form of fast, lightweight appeals process for AE blocks. Perhaps a small committee could be assembled from admins familiar with AE to hear appeals, particularly those of of short blocks and allow for an action to be reversed by the agreement of a certain number of those admins? Or perhaps ArbCom itself could handle such appeals on the same basis as it does with emergency desysops in the case of compromised accounts? Idea adapted from an off-wiki conversation with User:Courcelles
2. In the longer term, reducing reliance on discretionary sanctions. That's not to say that they don't work or that they should be scrapped altogether, but ArbCom would be wise to recognise the heavy load discretionary sanctions place on the shoulders of a small number of admins and that those admins are human.

My apologies for the length of my post, I know folks have enough light reading as it is, but I've tried to be as concise as i can. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 03:45, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence provided by Collect

This case should be restricted to a narrow area. Already we have litigious posts seeking mainly to show that L2 is without sin and QG is evil incarnate. :) All of that is totally irrelevant to the actual reason for the case. ArbCom has repeatedly stated that content issues should not be raised here. So let's cut to the chase.

Sandstein blocked L2 with a clear message in the block notice that he was using AE as the basis for the block. I understand no one at all contests this fact.

The notice provides that no other admin is allowed to unblock on his own judgement - that the minimum requirement is a clear consensus to undo the block. I understand that this is also accepted by everyone.

Ds was aware that the block notice was clear. Again, I understand this is not disputed.

Ds unblocked L2 with the response "Considering the user's statement that he will redact the comments that the blocking admin found to be a threat, adding that he didn't mean the comments to be a threat of disruption, the comments here by editors who support unblocking, and the fact that this block is a long stretch of the ArbCom pseduoscience restrictions, I'm going to unblock Ludwigs2. At this point, the block is punative, not preventive Dreadstar ☥ 02:41, 9 March 2011 (UTC)" which should be accepted as fact.

Ds did not assert that any "clear consensus" existed. Nor, on its face, did a clear consensus exist. This is a matter which someone might dispute, but where the committee is a fair judge.

WRT the assertion that I have made any statements at all about L2 here, I demur strongly. Every post I have made has been without regard in any way whatsoever with who he is or what his positions are in any matter. In point of fact, my positions on "pseudoscience" may well be closer to his than to QG's, but all of that has absolutely not one whit of relevance here, and I am truly sorry that PS interjected such a claim. I would ask that the committee note that there is not one scintilla of evidence supporting any charge that my position here is anything more than a strict supporter of existing policies.

So what is left? Did Ds knowingly violate a dictum of the ArbCom? I suspect this is a fact.

Should ArbCom enforce its dicta? That is not a matter of fact - that is a determination to be made specifically and only by the committee. I, as a personal opinion only, would aver that any deliberate decline to enforce wouuld assure future refusals to heed the dicta by others. Collect (talk) 13:31, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by Aprock

There is some discussion about whether Sandstein acted in a hasty manner. Part of the problem I suspect is that the block is less a reflection of the specific edit and more a reflection of Ludwigs2's general philosophy on civility (emphasis in original):

"I firmly believe that the way an editor treats others is indicative of what that editor considers appropriate behavior, and then I treat that editor in that appropriate-to-them manner. I can be the most sensible, reasonable, and considerate editor you've every met, and I can also be a complete ass, and it doesn't matter to me which I am (except that I prefer the former). If it's the norm on wikipedia to bitch each other out and call each other names, I can work with that. If it's the norm to engage in high-minded deliberation and collegial respect, I can work with that as well. I happily let others determine the cultural norms." - Ludwigs2

"Very few people in this dispute respect civility or consensus, and while I am one of them, I am not going to cling to those principles..." - Ludwigs2

His Eye for an eye approach invariably leads to these kind of showdowns. So while the original block may not have been the optimal action, and probably not justified based on the single diff, it's possible Ludwigs2's broader editing attitude played a role in the the enforcement action. aprock (talk) 17:28, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Evidence presented by DreamGuy

I am not directly involved with this incident, but have had interaction with some of the same editors on other articles.

Other editors have already shown diffs showing he was warned that he could be blocked if he persisted with disruptive behavior on articles both in the past and more recently. But it is very clear that he just refuses to get the basic rules involved. Take the edit comment "(rv. that was my second edit in 3 days - this is my third. this does not constitute edit warring. besides, reverting editors who refuse to discuss the matter in talk is OK.)" in which he responds to a warning against edit warning by making a claim that it wasn't (by now he should clearly know the definition). With that and other edits on the article in question, he was clearly acting in a disruptive manner. This is what the AE sanctions cover.

But the issue at heart of the dispute here is his comment "I'm dropping this in your lap now, because if you don't do something to get him to fly right you'll leave me with no choice except to shout him down and shut him up. I'm very capable of doing that (as some of you should be aware), but if I have to go that route things will get progressively more ugly." Some have claimed this falls outside of the AE mandate because it was an action on a page unrelated to pseudoscience. This statement is a clear and unambiguous statement of intention to disrupt the Pseudoscience article unless he get one or more admins to act in a way he approved of. This is completely inexcusable, and is exactly what the AE sanctions are for. Anyone saying "Oh, he was just frustrated..." ot the equivalent seems to be aggressively ignoring the true situation here.

It is also been demonstrated that Dreadstar knew of the sanctions, knew of the prohibition of wheel warring in these cases, and did so anyway. It is fairly easy for a single admin to block a single editor over an ambiguous situation in any dispute, and there's an inherent double standard involved when it takes almost an act of god to get an admin in trouble in any way. In this case the admin knowingly and clearly violated ArbCom rulings, which is about as bad as it gets. There must be action taken or else no ruling by ArbCom will ever have any weight. It's up to you to determine what action that is, but if you don't do it then why even bother to ever make any ruling ever again? DreamGuy (talk) 15:31, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

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