Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-09-14/Arbitration report

The Arbitration Committee opened one case this week, and closed two, leaving three cases open.

Requests for arbitration
A new request concerning disputes on the "Asmahan" article was filed by Supreme Deliciousness, who alleges that Arab Cowboy has edited the article disruptively. The Committee is in the process of accepting the request to examine the behavior of all parties.

A request concerning the conduct of Pigsonthewing, filed by Erik9 last week, is being declined as premature.

Open cases
The Speed of light case was opened this week. The case was filed by Jehochman, who cited concerns about "tendentious editing and disruption" by a large number of editors on the "speed of light" article. Unusually, arbitrator Cool Hand Luke, who is slated to draft the decision in the case, has directly asked the parties "what resolution [they] would like to see from this process, and what (if any) concessions would [they] be willing to give to achieve that end?". Other workshop proposals have been submitted by a number of editors. A draft decision is expected by 30 September.

The Noloop case entered its fourth week of deliberations. The case involves mutual allegations of disruptive conduct by several parties, and is expected to address the conduct of all the editors involved. Evidence has been presented by several editors, and one of the parties, Noloop, has posted a statement that he does not intend to participate in the proceeding, but no drafting of proposals has yet taken place. A draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Carcharoth, was expected by 13 September, but has been delayed.

The Lapsed Pacifist 2 case also entered its fourth week of deliberations. The filing editor, Steve Crossin, alleges that Lapsed Pacifist has engaged in advocacy, original research, and edit warring, as well as various other improprieties, over a wide range of articles. Lapsed Pacifist has so far refused to enter a statement or respond to the allegations, and a temporary injunction prohibits him from editing articles related to the Corrib gas project for the duration of the case. No arbitrators have commented on the evidence or workshop proposals at this time; a draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Wizardman, was expected by 11 September, but has been delayed.

Closed cases
The Abd-William M. Connolley case was closed this week. The case had been filed by Abd, who alleged that William M. Connolley had improperly banned him from the "cold fusion" article; William M. Connolley denied these allegations, and stated that Abd's conduct had been inappropriate.

The Committee found that Abd had engaged in tendentious editing on the article, and had violated a prior arbitration remedy (from the Abd and JzG decision), but that William M. Connolley had "misused his administrator tools by acting while involved". The remedies impose discretionary sanctions on the article; ban Abd from the project for three months, and from the cold fusion article for one year; and remove William M. Connolley's administrator status. The Committee also urged the community to "engage in a policy discussion and clarify, on an appropriate policy page, whether and under what circumstances an administrator may direct that a given editor is banned from editing a particular page or on a particular topic (outside the context of arbitration enforcement), without first attaining a consensus for the ban on a noticeboard, and if so, how such bans are to be reviewed".

The 194x144x90x118 case was also closed. The filing editor, Erik9, had alleged that 194x144x90x118 had engaged in a variety of disruptive conduct, despite an RFC on the matter; 194x144x90x118 refused to respond to the allegations. The Committee found that 194x144x90x118 had engaged "soapboxing on talk pages, personal attacks, edit warring, and a lack of a desire to abide by policy", and has banned him from the project for one year.

Clarifications, amendments, and motions
A request for clarification of the Lyndon LaRouche 2 decision was filed by Leatherstocking, who was warned by SlimVirgin that he could be subject to sanctions pursuant to it. Most of the Committee has not yet responded to the request.

The Committee adopted a motion that terminates the six-month ban imposed on Locke Cole as part of the Date delinking decision. The motion provides for a reinstatement of the ban should Locke Cole be blocked for edit-warring, and does not alter the other editing restrictions affecting him.