Moderator Perma-ban Hearing

[Tashah]

Moderator Perma-ban Hearing (MPH)
Adopted - 03-08-2006

Per our Forum Rules that permit Mod discretion (warning/suspension/perma-ban)... this discretion will remain intact. The original Mod shall have the latitude to decide on the severity of any particular infraction.

IF in the judgment of the original Mod a particular violation merits a perma-ban, an unequivocal process begins:

Moderator Perma-ban Hearing (MPH) Process

The original moderator must take the initiative and follow-through until a judgment is made. If in the event the original moderator is not present near the time of probation ending period, a volunteer may step up and take ownership of this action.

1• The offending user is notified in the pertinent post and via PM by the original Mod that the infraction has been deemed to possibly merit a perma-ban and it has been referred to the Moderator Team for summary judgment

2• The original Mod shall immediately place the offending user on Probation (A temporary 36 hour revocation of posting - PM's and viewing still available).

3• The original Mod shall immediately begin a thread in the Mod Forum and compose a Post #1 stating his/her position on why this infraction merits a perma-ban. All citations/evidential material/rationale shall reside in this initial post. This post is private and unavailable to the public.

4• The original Mod shall immediately compose a PM to all the Moderators placing the particular infraction and judgment at the disposal of the Moderator Team via the Moderator Perma-ban Hearing process.

5• At this point the original Mod is recused from MPH deliberations and the MPH vote.

6• The probated user will be permitted one (1) PM to the Mod Team to:
a) Attempt to prove total innocence.
b) Attempt to convince that this violation does not merit a perma-ban.
c) Admit the violation and plead for leniency.

This user PM shall be inserted into the pertinent MPH thread. No PM's from any third-party will be admissible to the MPH.

7• A Team judgment on whether a perma-ban shall be enforced must be voted-on (consensus) before the probationary period expires. This judgment shall be binding and it shall be attributed to the 'Moderator Team' in-toto.

If the perma-ban motion passes, the judgment shall be enforced immediately post-vote and accompanied by a 'Moderator Team' notification PM to the offending user.

If the perma-ban motion does not pass, a notification PM will be sent to the user by the original Mod to convey this result. It is understood that a 'does not pass' result does not imply that the MPH process was unwarranted.

A suspension may be imposed in lieu of a perma-ban at the Moderator Team's discretion. The original Mod will need to validate this and set the duration of the suspension into action.

The deliberations of the Moderator Team in any MPH action are strictly confidential and are not subject to public release.