Thread:ILYx3/@comment-4620155-20130401015625/@comment-1242640-20130402045053

It's up to you guys as to how long you block each user. But regardless of policy, I believe that each staff member should respect their peers' decisions by not interfering unless they have a good reason to.

I usually try my best not to interfere with the blocking decisions of other staff members, but I WILL intervene if I believe that it's necessary.

There are many repeat offenders out there who won't be deterred by a short-term block. You may block them for a day or two; maybe even a week, but they'd just lose interest and simply quit editing for a duration much longer than that of the block.

Once the ban runs out and the vandal comes back a few months later, they'll be happy to discover that their block is long-gone. The vandal would be in a position where they'd be all-too-willing to 'pay back' our site with even more defamation.

Someone might block them again for a similarly short period. Again, they leave for a while to find something else that interests them, somehow come back long after the block has expired, and simply do it again. And the cycle repeats. This has happened on numerous occasions.

Basically, there are a lot of lost causes that cannot be dealt with except for a permanent ban. If someone TRULY wanted to help our site, they would've just as easily made an account (which once again, they can do at ANY time while they are blocked) in order to do so.

So in most cases, I believe that a change to a block should (in all finality) become harsher once it has been given, not less severe. It shouldn't be a cakewalk to be able to recover from a single incident, commit some more crimes, and avoid punishment indefinitely.