The Rayaan / Jacob(smooth) Situation

[Cyberman]

Just a suggestion, would there be any legs to this? So if a mod has a suspicion regarding a thread they are involved in, they hand it off to a mod who ISN'T involved? That way there is no question that an investigation is undertaken out of pique, or to gain an edge in a debate?

Or is that just going too far.

That's why we have quorum criteria for higher level decisions, ie actions that go beyond simple routine forum maintenance. A user cannot be banned solely on the opinion of a single staff member, for instance, and all such situations undergo serious discussion with input from (ideally) all staff before any action is taken. It's also general practice for any member of staff with a vested interest in the situation to stand back from the decision-making process and let other staff not so invested to take appropriate action.

Edited for clarification: By "A user cannot be banned solely on the opinion of a single staff member", I should have said "A regular member". Socks of previously-banned accounts and other notorious serial trolls are shot on sight, as are shitspammers.