User:Doug Weller/ccdraft

=Proposed final decision=

Purpose of Wikipedia
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of cameraderie and mutual respect among the contributors.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Role of the Arbitration Committee
2) It is not the role of the Arbitration Committee to settle good-faith content disputes among editors.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

User Conduct
3) Wikipedia's code of conduct, which outlines some of Wikipedia's expected standards of behavior and decorum, is one of the five pillars of Wikipedia that all editors are expected to follow. Even in difficult situations, Wikipedia editors are expected to adopt a constructive and collaborative outlook, behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other editors, and avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. Administrators are expected to adhere to this at a higher standard. Uncivil, unseemly, or disruptive conduct, including but not limited to lack of respect for other editors, failure to work towards consensus, offensive commentary (including rude, offensive, derogatory, and insulting terms in any language), personal attacks, unjustified failure to assume good faith, harassment, edit-warring, disruptive point-making, and gaming the system, are all unacceptable as they are inconsistent with Wikipedia's expected standards of behavior and decorum. Users should not respond to such misconduct in kind; concerns regarding the actions of other users should be brought up in the appropriate forums.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Collective behavior of blocs of editors
4) It is potentially harmful to Wikipedia when editorial debates become strongly associated with real-world polarizations and when they become dominated by groups of editors lined up along philosophical lines due to shared beliefs or personal backgrounds. This is particularly harmful when such editors act in concert to systematically advocate editorial decisions considered favorable to their shared views in a manner that contravenes the application of Wikipedia policy or obstructs consensus-building. Defending editorial positions that support philosophical preferences typical of a particular group is not ipso facto evidence of bad-faith editing. At the same time, mere strength of numbers is not sufficient to contravene Wikipedia policy, and an apparent consensus of editors is not sufficient to overrule the five pillars of Wikipedia.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a battleground
5) Wikipedia is not a battleground. It is not acceptable to further off-wiki disputes on this project.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Casting aspersions
6) It is unacceptable for an editor to routinely accuse others of misbehavior without reasonable cause in an attempt to besmirch their reputations. Concerns, if they cannot be resolved directly with the other users involved, should be brought up in the appropriate forums with evidence, if at all.


 * Passed X to X, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Neutrality and conflicts of interest
7) Wikipedia adopts a neutral point of view, and advocacy for any particular view is prohibited. In particular, Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines strongly discourage editors contributing "in order to promote their own interests." Neutrality is non-negotiable and requires that, whatever their personal feelings or interests, all editors must strive to ensure articles accurately reflect all significant viewpoints published by reliable sources and give prominence to such viewpoints in proportion to the weight of the source. Editors may contribute to Wikipedia only if they comply with Wikipedia's key policies.


 * Passed 7 to 1, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Biographies of living people
8) Biographies of living people must be written conservatively, responsibly, cautiously, and in a dispassionate and neutral tone, avoiding both understatement and overstatement. They should be written using reliable sources, avoiding self-published sources. Poorly sourced or unsourced controversial material should be removed immediately, and should not be reinserted without appropriate sourcing. Biographical articles should not be used as coatracks to describe events or circumstances in which the subject is peripherally or slightly involved, nor to give undue weight to events or circumstances to matters relevant to the subject. Failure to adhere to the policy on biographical information of living people may result in deletion of material, editing restrictions, blocks or even bans.


 * Passed 8 to 0 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Encyclopedic coverage of science
9) Encyclopedias are generally expected to provide overviews of scientific topics that are in line with current mainstream scientific thought, while also recognizing significant alternate viewpoints.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Undue weight
10) In describing points of view on a subject, articles should fairly represent the weight of authority for each such view, and should not accord them undue weight. Thus, views held by a relatively small proportion of commentators or scholars should not be overstated, but similarly, views held by a relatively large proportion thereof should not be understated.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Sourcing
11) The verifiability policy is at the heart of one of the five pillars of Wikipedia and must be adhered to, through the use of reliable sources. Different types of sources (e.g. academic sources and news sources), as well as individual sources, need to be evaluated on their own merits. Differentiation between sources that meet the standard (e.g. different academic viewpoints, all of which are peer reviewed) is a matter for consensus among editors. When there is disagreement or uncertainty about the reliability of particular sources, editors are encouraged to use the reliable sources noticeboard to broaden the discussion.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Disruptive editing
12) Disruptive editing, which can include persistent vandalism, edit-warring, sockpuppetry, and repeated insertion of unsourced or poorly sourced controversial content, is cause for blocking an account. Repeated violations of Wikipedia behavioural and editing policies may lead to indefinite blocks which become de facto bans when no administrator will consider unblocking, particularly if the editor uses multiple accounts to behave disruptively.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Blocking and Banning
13) The purpose of blocking accounts and banning editors is to address the disruptive or otherwise inappropriate behaviour of the specific editor, not to silence a perspective. Without additional supportive evidence (such as identical wording as used by a banned editor), editors new to a topic who seek to include information proposed in the past by a now-blocked or -banned editor should be treated with good faith. An editor who brings forward the same or similar view as a blocked or banned user should not automatically be assumed to be a sockpuppet or meatpuppet in the absence of other evidence.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrators working in contentious areas
14.1) Administrators are trusted members of the community, are expected to follow Wikipedia policies, and are expected to pursue their duties to the best of their abilities. Occasional mistakes are entirely compatible with administrator status; administrators are not expected to be perfect. When working in stressful and contentious areas, administrators should consider periodically taking time out from the area of contention lest their own conduct inadvertently descend to the level for which they would sanction others.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrator involvement - general
15) The purpose of defining involvement is to eliminate as much bias as possible. Bias in a topic area can result from things like editing the topic and having strong views even without editing the topic.

Editors are expected to not act as administrators in disputes in which they are involved. See Administrators. For example, an administrator may be deemed too "involved" to block an editor if the administrator has had significant prior disputes with that editor, whether or not directly related to the current issue, or if the issue arises from a content dispute and the administrator is active in editing the article that is the subject of the dispute.

However, the policy also notes that "one important caveat is that an administrator who has interacted with an editor or article purely in an administrative role, or whose prior involvement consists of minor or obvious edits that do not speak to bias, is not involved and is not prevented from acting on the article, editor, or dispute either in an administrative role or in an editorial role. This is because one of the roles of administrators is precisely to deal with such matters, at length if necessary." There will always be borderline cases; in general, if an administrator is not sure whether he or she would be considered "involved" or not, the better practice is to draw the situation to the attention of other administrators to resolve, such as by posting on an appropriate noticeboard.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Involved administrators
15.1) An adminstrator is usually considered involved if: (i) they have participated in an editorial dispute with the editor or (ii) have had significant personal interaction with the editor or with other editors with whom that editor is in dispute or (iii) in an editorial capacity, they have participated in a content dispute affecting the article or related articles within the broader topic. Previous interaction in a purely administrative capacity does not constitute administrator involvement.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrator involvement - enforcement matters
16) In the context of arbitration enforcement, which is analogous to enforcement of the community sanctions at issue in this case, the Arbitration Committee has usually defined that "for the purpose of imposing sanctions ... an administrator will be considered 'uninvolved' if he or she has not previously participated in any content disputes on articles in the area of conflict." Of course, an administrator who has had significant prior disputes with a particular editor would similarly be considered "involved" with regard to a request for sanctions involving that editor.

However, an administrator's taking enforcement action against an editor under an arbitration or community-sanctions decision is not considered to be participation in a dispute that disqualifies the administrator from addressing later misconduct by that editor. It also is unacceptable for an editor to deliberately pick a quarrel with an administrator for the purpose of provoking the administrator into saying or doing something that will make him or her "involved."


 * Passed 7 to 1, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrator participation in enforcement
17) There is a trade-off between having a relatively small group of administrators concentrate on arbitration enforcement or community sanctions enforcement versus having a larger number of administrators do so. Having a handful of administrators handle enforcement requests helps ensure that these administrators are familiar with enforcement policies and procedures and come to learn the issues associated with enforcement problems that arise in a particular case. On the other hand, as the same administrators handle multiple enforcement requests, they may increasingly be subject to accusations of "involvement" or bias and prejudgment based on their earlier actions in the same case.

In general, as more administrators participate in enforcement of a decision and develop the relevant expertise, the less necessary it will be for an administrator who might be arguably or borderline "involved" to handle an enforcement request. Conversely, it is understandable that if other qualified administrators are not available to handle the requests, then those who are willing to address them, even if borderline "involved", are more likely to continue making enforcement decisions.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Right to vanish
18.1) The "Right to Vanish" is a courtesy afforded to editors intending to withdraw permanently from editing Wikipedia. It is not intended as a temporary leave or absence, or as a method to avoid scrutiny or sanction over one's past behavior.  Editors who invoke this right should expect that, should they return, their previous identity will be fully restored and any possible sanctions will be reapplied.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Detrimental editing
19) The core purpose of the Wikipedia project is to create a high-quality free encyclopedia. Contributors whose actions are detrimental to that goal may be asked to refrain from making them, even when these actions are undertaken in good faith.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Conduct on arbitration pages
20) The pages associated with arbitration cases are primarily intended to assist the Arbitration Committee in arriving at a fair, well-informed, and expeditious resolution of each case. Participation by editors who present good-faith statements, evidence, and workshop proposals is appreciated. While allowance is made for the fact that parties and other interested editors may have strong feelings about the subject-matters of their dispute, appropriate decorum should be maintained on these pages. Incivility, personal attacks, and strident rhetoric should be avoided in arbitration as in all other areas of Wikipedia.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Battlefield editing
21) Wikipedia is a reference work, not a battlefield. Each and every user is expected to interact with others civilly, calmly, and in a spirit of cooperation. Use of the site to pursue personal feuds and quarrels is extremely disruptive, flies directly in the face of our key policies and goals. and is prohibited. Editors who are unable to resolve their personal or ideological differences are expected to keep mutual contact to a minimum. If battling editors fail to disengage, they may be compelled to do so through the use of blocks and bans.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Enough is enough
22) When all reasonable attempts to control the spread of disruption arising from long-term disputes have failed, the Committee may be compelled to adopt seemingly draconian measures as a last resort for preventing further damage to the encyclopedia and to the community.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Evidence sub-pages in user space
23) Longstanding consensus at Miscellany for Deletion is that editors may work up drafts in their userspace for the sole purpose of submitting the material as evidence in arbitration cases. However, after the case closes, the sub-pages should be courtesy-blanked or deleted as they are often perceived as attack pages and serve only to memorialise and perpetuate the dispute. Evidence should properly be submitted only on arbitration pages as it is impossible to ensure that all the parties are aware of all the sub-pages that might have a bearing on them.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Locus of dispute (1.1)
1.1) This dispute revolves around Wikipedia's coverage of climate change. While article content on the topic has been reviewed favorably by both internal and external mechanisms, the editing environment is a contentious extension of real world disputes and has resulted in a range of intractable disputes requiring the Committee's attention. The on-wiki disputes have also become intermingled with off-wiki venues, especially blogs.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Nature and extent of dispute
2) Many disputes relating to the climate change topic area have been polarizing and embittered because of the great importance that many people, on and off Wikipedia, give to this topic area. The existence of these strongly held competing views on a matter of significant public and scientific interest does not excuse editors from complying with all of Wikipedia's governing values, policies, and norms.


 * Passed 7 to 1, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Climate change probation
3) Following numerous disputes regarding user conduct in the area of conflict, the community developed a series of community-based discretionary sanctions that administrators were authorized to apply to editors who edited disruptively or violated user conduct policies within this topic area. A special community sanctions noticeboard was created for this purpose on 1 January 2010 and has to date addressed more than 120 reported violations of behavioral or core editing policies. This general approach to addressing conduct issues in a particular topic area has been utilized in several Arbitration Committee decisions in the past, but was an innovation here when adopted at the community level. In its months of operation, this sanctions noticeboard has successfully resolved many of the reports brought before it, but questions have been raised from time to time about procedural and other issues concerning its operation.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Disputes regarding administrator involvement
4) During operation of the Climate change sanctions noticeboards, bitter disputes have arisen concerning whether administrators Lar and Stephan Schulz are "involved" in the global warming/climate change topic area to the extent that they should not participate as administrators in ruling or commenting on sanctions requests.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Sockpuppetry in the Climate Change topic area
5) Since 2006, the articles in the Climate Change topic area have been subject to persistent, repeated insertion of contentious unsourced material as well as other comparatively non-controversial edits by a now-banned editor known as Scibaby, who has created hundreds of accounts. (Long-term abuse report) The pervasive disruption has negatively affected the editing climate within the topic area, and IP editors and those with few edits outside of the topic area are frequently challenged or reverted without comment. In several cases, non-controversial edits made within editing policies and guidelines (e.g., using more neutral language or tone) have resulted in "Scibaby" blocks because a word or phrase has been used by Scibaby in the past, and editors have been threatened with blocking for reinstating otherwise reasonable edits that have been identified as originating from a likely Scibaby sockpuppet. Efforts to reduce Scibaby's impact have had their own deleterious effects, with large IP range blocks preventing new editors from contributing to any area of the project, edit filters having a high "false positive" result, and a significant proportion of Scibaby-related blocks (including range blocks), particularly before late 2009, were subsequently determined to be excessive or incorrect. This does not negate the fact that there have been hundreds of accounts correctly identified.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Edit warring on Climate Change related articles
6.1) Reflecting the contentious and uncollaborative atmosphere surrounding Climate change related articles, the articles have been the frequent subject of edit-warring, often rising to the level that page protection has been necessary. Episodes of edit-warring requiring protection, including several parties to the case, have continued even while this arbitration case was pending.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Personalization of dispute
7) A number of editors involved in this dispute have—possibly through no fault of their own—become focal points for the debate, to the extent that their presence causes discussion to revolve around their personalities and editing histories, rather than the content actually being debated.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

William M. Connolley (various)
8. Group header

William M. Connolley previously sanctioned and desysopped
8.1) In the Abd-William M. Connolley arbitration case (July-September 2009), William M. Connolley was found to have misused his admin tools while involved. As a result, he lost administrator permissions, and was admonished and prohibited from interacting with User:Abd. Prior to that, he was sanctioned in Requests for arbitration/Climate change dispute (2005, revert parole - which was later overturned by the Committee here) and Requests for arbitration/Geogre-William M. Connolley (2008, restricted from administrative actions relating to Giano II). He was also the subject of RFC's regarding his conduct: RfC 1 (2005) and RfC 2 (2008). The 2008 RFC was closed as improperly certified.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

William M. Connolley has been uncivil and antagonistic
8.2) William M. Connolley has been uncivil and antagonistic to editors within the topic area, and toward administrators enforcing the community probation. (Selection of representative examples:              ) This uncivil and antagonistic behaviour has included refactoring of talk page comments by other users,(examples: ,, ) to the point that he was formally prohibited from doing so. In the notice advising him that a consensus of 7 administrators had prohibited his refactoring of talk page posts, he inserted commentary within the post of the administrator leaving the notice on his talk page. ] For this action, he was blocked for 48 hours; had the block extended to 4 days with talk page editing disabled due to continuing insertions into the posts of other users on his talk page; had his block reset to the original conditions; then was blocked indefinitely with talk page editing disabled when he again inserted comments into the posts of others on his talk page. After extensive discussion at Administrator noticeboard/Incidents, the interpretation of consensus was that the Climate Change general sanctions did not extend to the actions of editors on their own talk pages, and the block was lifted.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

William M. Connolley's edits to biographies of living persons
8.5) William M. Connolley has focused a substantial portion of his editing in the Climate change topic area on biographical articles about living persons who hold views opposed to his own with respect to the reality and significance of anthropogenic global warming, in a fashion suggesting that he does not always approach such articles with an appropriately neutral and disinterested point of view.


 * Passed 7 to 1, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Polargeo's battlefield conduct
9.1) has contributed significantly towards the battleground atmosphere with combative remarks in the early stages of this case;,, , , , ,  repeated personal attacks on individual editors throughout it;, , , , , , , , , , ,  and many incivil remarks during it. ,, , , , , ,

NB: This editor has retired the User:Polargeo account and is apparently editing as User:Olap the Ogre.  Roger Davies  talk 10:55, 4 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Thegoodlocust (various)
10. Group header

Thegoodlocust long-term disruption
10.1) has engaged in long-term disruptive, tendentious, and agenda-driven editing across a range of articles. These behaviours include, but are not limited to, personal attacks (PA), use of Wikipedia as a soapbox and battleground, edit-warring, agenda-driven editing, and abuse of article talk pages and project space to propound his personal viewpoints on controversial topics. This disruptive behavior has recurred after numerous warnings and blocks, as well as a prior topic ban to Barack Obama and a Global Warming ban that was to end on 8 August 2010, but was reset due to continued soapboxing and will now expire on 3 November 2010. (Selection of representative examples: (admin only, BLP violation),  (PA, soapboxing),  (soapboxing),  (PA),  (PA),  (soapboxing), PA, failure to assume good faith), (PA). The next three diffs come from the current case pages and represent the use of a dispute resolution forum to forward his personal agenda; he was already topic-banned prior to the acceptance of the case: , ,  (see collapse box mid-thread))


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Thegoodlocust's battlefield conduct
10.2) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring,,,,,,,,, and comments that were incivil or reinforced a battleground mentality. , ,,,,


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Marknutley disruptive behavior
11) has engaged in a long series of disruptive behavior, including biography of living person (BLP) violations, creation of point-of-view forks (POV forks), copyright violations, incivility, incorrect interpretation and misuse of source material including improper use of blogs and primary sources, edit-warring, personal attacks (PA), and attempts to override consensus content decisions. (Selection of representative examples:   (BLP),  (BLP, sourcing),  (BLP, sourcing),  (BLP, sourcing),  (POV fork), (PA), (PA), (PA), (edit against consensus, misleading edit summary),  (PA),  (assumption of bad faith), (copyright violations), (synthesis))

Since the initiation of the Climate Change general sanctions, he has been subject to multiple sanctions related to his behaviour in this topic area:
 * Multiple blocks for edit-warring, copyright violation, and violation of 1-RR restrictions [December 2009 to July 2010]
 * Sourcing parole [May 2010, following WP:GS/CC discussion]
 * Civility parole [June 2010, following WP:GS/CC discussion]


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Lar (various)
12. Group header

RFC/U on Lar
12.2) User:Lar was the subject of an RFC on whether he is an involved admin in the Climate Change topic during April - June 2010. The debate on that issue has continued on several pages since that time.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Lar's comments, actions, and mindset
12.3) User:Lar has made inappropriate comments and actions and at times shows a battleground mentality, especially for an admin:, , , , , , , , ,


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrator participation by Stephan Schulz
13.1) Stephan Schulz, an administrator, has participated significantly in editing and discussing content issues on articles relating to Climate change. He formerly also performed certain administrator actions relating to these articles, but has not done so in several months. Stephan Schulz has frequently commented on sanctions requests on the Climate change sanctions noticeboard in the section reserved for discussion by "uninvolved administrators."


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ChrisO's battlefield conduct
14.3) has engaged in disruptive behaviour, including edit warring,, , ,  and comments that were incivil and reinforced a battleground mentality,,, ,.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Minor4th's battlefield conduct
15) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring, , , , , , , , , , and comments that were incivil and reinforced a battleground mentality, , ,.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ATren's battlefield conduct
16) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including comments that were not civil;, , , , ,  and that reinforced a battleground mentality.  , , , , , , 


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Hipocrite's battlefield conduct
17) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring, , ,  and comments that were incivil and reinforced a battleground mentality, , , ,.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Cla68's battlefield conduct
18) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring,, ,, ,,, inappropriate use of sources, , and comments that were incivil and reinforced a battleground mentality, , ,.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Scjessey's battlefield conduct
19) has helped create the battleground atmosphere with a string of bellicose, polemic and uncivil comments in the run up to this case;,, , , , , , , , , ,  and a series of personal attacks during the course of it., , ,


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Scjessey's voluntary editing restriction
19.1) has voluntarily withdrawn with immediate effect from the Climate Change topic on the basis specified in Remedy 16.1 of this decision., ,


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

GregJackP's battlefield conduct
20) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring,,, inappropriate use of sources,,, and comments that were incivil and reinforced a battleground mentality,, , , ,.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

A Quest For Knowledge's battlefield conduct
21) has helped contribute to the battleground atmosphere by engaging in edit warring in the run up to the opening of this case;, , , , making comments that were incivil or promoted a battleground mentality; , , , ,  and by making an inappropriate remark in discussions about biographies of living people.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

KimDabelsteinPetersen's battlefield conduct
22) has engaged in battlefield conduct, edit-warring in climate-change-related biographies of living people over content;,, ,, and sources;, , , , , , , , , ,  and, more recently, has continued to interpret sourcing and BLP policy idiosyncratically., , , , , , , , ,


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Verbal's battlefield conduct
23) has contributed to the battleground atmosphere with peremptory reverts to articles to which they have not previously contributed and by sometimes failing to discuss the reverts on article talk pages., *, *,  *, *,, , , , *, * This editor has also reverted to versions by an editor under a revert restriction in a manner suggestive of tag-teaming and restriction circumvention.(marked with an asterisk in the previous diffs).


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ZuluPapa5's battlefield conduct
24) has in the run-up to this case helped create a battlefield atmosphere by engaging in edit-warring;,, ,  by engaging in incivility and personal attacks;, ,  and by seemingly wiki-lawyering and/or soapboxing., , , , , , ,


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

JohnWBarber's battlefield conduct
25.1) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring, ,  and comments that served to inflame tensions and reinforced a battleground mentality , , , , , , , , ,.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

FellGleaming's battlefield conduct
26) has long engaged in battlefield conduct within the Climate change topic, first attracting separate blocks for edit-warring and personal attacks back in April 2008, and has more recently been the subject of requests for enforcement., In the past few months, this editor has engaged in edit-warring, ,, including edit-warring on articles under community probation; ,,,,,,,, On balance, this editor's presence within this controversial topic has been more detrimental than beneficial.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Proposed remedies
Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

Climate change: discretionary sanctions
1.2) This remedy specifies and authorises the discretionary sanctions applicable to this case.

Any editor wishing to edit within the Climate change topic, broadly construed, is advised to edit cautiously, to adopt Wikipedia’s communal approaches (including appropriate conduct, dispute resolution, neutral point of view, no original research and verifiability) in their editing, and to amend behaviours that are deemed to be of concern by uninvolved administrators. Editors are also urged to read and follow the principles applicable to this case. Any editor unable or unwilling to follow this advice should restrict their editing to other topics, to avoid sanctions.
 * Advice for editors

Any administrator who is not involved or who is not mentioned by name in the decision in this case may, at his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working on any article within the area of conflict. Any repeated or serious misbehaviour which fails to conform to the purpose of Wikipedia, to community and editorial norms, is grounds for discretionary sanctions. Additionally, and specific to this case, administrators are asked to focus on editors engaging in battlefield conduct (including edit- and revert-warring in all forms, making personal attacks; casting aspersions, POV-pushing, and misusing sources) and Climate change-related biographies of living people, which have coatrack problems.
 * Authorisation

The sanctions imposed may include: blocks of up to one year in length; topic-bans applicable to any page or set of pages and their talk pages within the area of conflict; strict revert restrictions for edit-warring; interaction bans for feuding, baiting, and incivility; or any other measures which the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project.
 * Range of sanctions

Administrators should use their judgment to balance (i) the need to assume good faith, to avoid biting genuinely inexperienced editors, and to allow responsible contributors freedom to edit, with (ii) the need to reduce edit-warring and misuse of Wikipedia as a battleground.
 * Before imposing discretionary sanctions

Prior to any sanctions being imposed, the editor in question shall be given a warning by an uninvolved administrator with a link to the decision authorising sanctions; and, where appropriate, should be counselled on specific steps to take to bring his or her editing into line with the relevant policies and guidelines.
 * Warning of intended sanctions

The sanctioned editor may appeal any sanction imposed under these provisions to the imposing administrator, the appropriate noticeboard (currently Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement), or the Committee.
 * Appeals by sanctioned editors

Administrators disagreeing with a discretionary sanction are cautioned not to reverse it without first familiarising themselves with the full facts and then engaging in extensive discussion and consensus-building at one of the administrators’ noticeboards or other suitable on-wiki venue. The Committee will consider appropriate remedies including suspension or revocation of adminship in the event of violations. Administrators who consistently make questionable enforcement administrative actions, or whose actions are consistently overturned by community or Arbitration Committee discussions may be asked to cease performing such activities or be formally restricted from taking such activities.
 * Reversals by administrators

All sanctions are to be logged in the appropriate section of the case page.
 * Logging


 * Passed 6 to 1, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Climate change sanctions noticeboard superseded
2) Effective when this case closes, the community sanctions noticeboard for global warming issues should no longer be used for future sanctions discussions. Any future sanctions requests should be based on the discretionary sanctions imposed above and the other remedies in this decision, and discussed in the standard location, Arbitration enforcement (AE). However, any discussions already pending on the existing noticeboard when this case closes should continue to a result, and need not be re-started or moved to AE.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Scope of topic bans
3.1) Editors topic-banned by the Committee under this remedy are prohibited (1) from editing articles about Climate Change broadly construed and their talk pages; (2) from editing biographies of living people associated with Climate Change broadly construed and their talk pages; and (3) from participating in any Wikipedia process relating to those articles.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Appeal of topic bans
3.2.1) Editors topic banned under this decision may apply to have the topic ban lifted or modified after demonstrating their commitment to the goals of Wikipedia and their ability to work constructively with other editors. The Committee will consider each request individually, but will look favorably on participation in the featured content process, including both production of any type of featured content, as well as constructive participation in featured content candidacies and reviews.  Applications will be considered no earlier than six months after the close of this case, and additional reviews will be done, unless the Committee directs otherwise in individual instances, no more frequently than every three months thereafter.


 * Passed 5 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrators who participate in Arbitration and Community Sanction enforcement
4.1) The Arbitration Committee thanks administrators who have assisted with enforcement of its decisions as well as community-sanctions decisions, and encourages other experienced administrators to share in this work, provided they understand that this can be among the more challenging and stressful administrator tasks on the project.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Use of blogs and self-published sources
4.2.1) All users are reminded that as stated in the verifiability policy and reliable source guideline, blogs and self-published sources in any media may be used as references only in very limited circumstances, typically articles about the blog or source itself. Neither blogs nor self-published sources may be used as sources of material about living people unless the material has been published by the article's subject (in which case special rules apply).


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Project-wide policies remain in effect
4.3) Editors and administrators are reminded that discretionary sanctions are intended to supplement, not supersede, existing project-wide editorial and behavioural policies. In circumstances where community or administrator intervention would be appropriate, such intervention remains appropriate whether or not it would also fall under the purview of the discretionary sanctions.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Biographies of Living Persons
4.4) Editors and administrators are reminded of the stringent requirements of the biography of living persons policy, particularly the importance of proper sourcing, disinterested and neutral tone, and ensuring that information added is specific to the subject of the article and given the correct weighting within the article. Edit-warring, poor-quality sourcing, unsourced negative or controversial information, inclusion within the article of material more appropriate for a different article, and unbalanced coverage within the article, are unacceptable. Similarly, material about living people placed into other articles should be held to the same high standards of sourcing, tone, relevance and balance.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Administrators, Checkusers, and the Climate change topic area
4.5) Experienced administrators and particularly holders of the Checkuser permission are requested to closely monitor new accounts that edit inappropriately in the Climate change topic area, to ensure that accounts that are sockpuppets of a particular chronically disruptive banned user are prevented from editing, while keeping to the lowest possible level instances in which innocent new editors are incorrectly blocked or would-be editors are caught in rangeblocks. Discussion of methods of identifying sockpuppet edits in this area should generally be conducted off-wiki. We note that there may be legitimate instances of disagreement and difficult judgment calls to be made in addressing these issues. However, administrators are cautioned that, without more evidence, merely expressing a particular opinion or emphasizing particular facts in the area of Climate change, does not constitute sufficient evidence that an editor is a sockpuppet of the banned user in question.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Evidence sub-pages (remedy)
4.6) Within seven days of this remedy passing, all parties must either delete evidence sub-pages or request deletion of them using the db-author or db-self templates. Nothing in this remedy prevents at any time any other editor from requesting deletion of the subpages via the Miscellany for deletion process nor any uninvolved adminstrator from deleting them under the applicable Criteria for speedy deletion.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

William M. Connolley topic-banned (R3)
5.6) William M. Connolley is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Polargeo topic-banned (R3)
6.3) Polargeo is topic-banned from Climate Change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Thegoodlocust topic banned (R3)
7.3) Thegoodlocust is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Marknutley topic-banned (R3)
8.6) Marknutley is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Stephan Schulz administrator participation
10.1) Stephan Schulz is advised not to comment on sanctions enforcement requests relating to climate change in the discussion section reserved for comments by uninvolved administrators. He may comment appropriately on such requests elsewhere, on the same terms as any other editor.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ChrisO instructed
11.4) Because ChrisO retired from the project and exercised his right to vanish while sanctions were being actively considered against him in this arbitration case, should he wish to resume editing under any account name at a future date, he is instructed to contact this Committee before doing so.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ChrisO topic-banned (R3)
11.6) ChrisO is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Minor4th (remedies)
12) Minor4th is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ATren (remedies)
13) ATren is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Hipocrite (remedies)
14) Hipocrite is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Scjessey's voluntary editing restriction (remedy)
16.1) has proposed a permanent binding voluntary restriction that he makes no edits within the scope of the topic ban, with the exception, as part of Recent Changes patrolling, of making routine cleanup-style edits and reverting cases of obvious vandalism. Scjessey is instructed to abide by these restrictions.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

GregJackP (remedies)
17) GregJackP is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

A Quest For Knowledge (remedies)
18) User:A Quest For Knowledge is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

KimDabelsteinPetersen's voluntary editing restriction (remedy)
19.1) has proposed a binding voluntary restriction that he makes: (i) no edits of whatever nature to Climate change articles, their talk pages and associated Wikipedia process pages, broadly construed, for a period of six months and on expiry of the six-month period is limited to one revert within the topic, reverts of blatant vandalism excluded; and (ii) no edits of whatever kind to biographies of living people, broadly construed. This editor is instructed to abide by these restrictions.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Verbal (remedies)
20) Verbal is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

ZuluPapa5 (remedies)
21) ZuluPapa5 is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

JohnWBarber (remedies)
22) JohnWBarber is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 5 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

FellGleaming (remedies)
23) FellGleaming is topic-banned from Climate change, per Remedy 3.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Enforcement by block
1) Should any user subject to a restriction or topic ban in this case violate that restriction or ban, that user may be blocked, initially for up to one month, and then with blocks increasing in duration to a maximum of one year, with the topic ban clock restarting at the end of each block. Appeals of blocks may be made to the imposing administrator, and thereafter to the Administrators' noticeboard, or to Arbitration Enforcement, or to the Arbitration Committee.


 * Passed 7 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Involved administrators
2.1) For the purpose of imposing sanctions under the provisions of this case, an administrator will be considered involved if: (i) they have participated in an editorial dispute with the editor or (ii) have had significant personal interaction with the editor or with other editors with whom that editor is in dispute, (iii) in an editorial capacity, they have participated in a content dispute affecting the article or related articles within the broader topic, or (iv) they are identified by name within the decision of the case. Previous interaction in a purely administrative capacity does not constitute administrator involvement.


 * Passed 6 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Logging
3) All sanctions imposed under the provisions of this case are to be logged at Arbitration/Requests/Case/Climate change.


 * Passed 8 to 0, 14:11, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Implementation notes
''Clerks and Arbitrators should use this section to clarify their understanding of the final decision--at a minimum, a list of items that have passed. Additionally, a list of which remedies are conditional on others (for instance a ban that should only be implemented if a mentorship should fail), and so on. Arbitrators should not pass the motion until they are satisfied with the implementation notes.''


 * Proposals which pass (Those in italics are superseded)
 * Passing principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15.1, 16, 17, 19, 19.1, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
 * Passing findings: 1 1.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.1, 7, 8.1, 8.2, (8.4 ? 8.5),9.1, 10.1, 10.2, 11, 12.2, 12.3, 13.1, 14.2, 14.3, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19.1, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
 * Passing remedies: 1.2, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2.1, 4.1, 4.2, 4.2.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.6, 6.3, 7.3, 8.6, 10.1, 11.4, 11.6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16.1, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
 * Passing enforcement provisions: 1, 2.1, 3
 * Proposals which do not pass
 * Failing principles: 7.1
 * Failing findings: 6, 8.3, 9, 12, 12.1, 13
 * Failing remedies: 1, 1.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.1, 6.2, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 9, 9.1, 9.3, 10, 10.2, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.5
 * Failing enforcement provisions: 2


 * Proposals requiring clarification:
 * Findings: 14.1
 * Remedies: 9.2, 22, 23

By my counts I believe the following changes need to be made to the above: Under "Proposals which pass"
 * Principles: 14 is superseded (by 14.1), 14.1 is passing, 18 is superseded (by 18.1), 18.1 is passing, 19 is listed twice, and there is no 19.1, ie it ought to read "... 13, 14, 14.1, 15, 15.1, 16, 17, 18, 18.1, 19, 20, ..."
 * Findings: 6 is superseded (by 6.1), 14.1 and 14.2 are both superseded (by 14.3), ie it ought to read "... 5, 6, 6.1, ... 13.1, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, ..."
 * Remedies: 4.2 is superseded (by 4.2.1), 9.2 is passing (3 supports, 3 abstentions), 22, 23 are passing (5 supports)


 * In the section "Proposals which do not pass"
 * Findings: 6 is not failing

Paul August &#9742; 12:36, 10 October 2010 (UTC)


 * R19, is no longer passing, and R19.1 is a new failiing remedy. Paul August &#9742; 20:17, 10 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Concur with Paul: my count tallies with his. AGK   23:49, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

Updates:
 * F25.1 is a new failing finding, R9.2 and R19 are now failing, and R19.1 is now passing. Paul August &#9742; 10:17, 11 October 2010 (UTC)


 * F25.1 is now passing. Paul August &#9742; 20:22, 13 October 2010 (UTC)


 * F25 is now failing. Paul August &#9742; 09:14, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Vote
Important: Please ask the case clerk to author the implementation notes before initiating a motion to close, so that the final decision is clear.

''Four net "support" votes needed to close case (each "oppose" vote subtracts a "support"). 24 hours from the first motion is normally the fastest a case will close. The Clerks will close the case either immediately, or 24 hours after the fourth net support vote has been cast, depending on whether the arbitrators have voted unanimously on the entirety of the case's proposed decision or not.''


 * Support
 * This isn't a satisfying decision, by far. Nevertheless, given how contentious the entire area is, this is about as good as it can get.  &mdash; Coren (talk) 23:10, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Support closing, effective 72 hours from now (instead of the usual 24) to allow the remaining loose ends to be resolved. Newyorkbrad (talk) 20:31, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Support closing effective 72 hours from Newyorkbrad's vote. Risker (talk) 03:33, 11 October 2010 (UTC) Changing my support to closing within 24 hours of net four votes to close or 72 hours after Newyorkbrad's vote to close, whichever comes first. I don't think we need to wait any longer than that. Risker (talk) 01:52, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Support closing; per Risker either 24 hours or 72 from Brad's vote is fine. Shell  babelfish 01:58, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Close; per Risker. - Mailer Diablo 21:25, 12 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Oppose


 * Comment
 * Given my most recent comment on a finding I just opposed (due to the wording used) it would not be appropriate for me to support closing the case, but equally I can't justify opposing the close purely on that basis. As Coren said, it may not be the most satisfying decision, but I think it has the potential to be a good decision that helps reduce disruption and battlefield editing in the topic area, provided enough experienced admins with the ability to deal with situations dispassionately and fairly step up to the plate and help out. Carcharoth (talk) 07:15, 12 October 2010 (UTC)