Guy Chapman aka JzG wrote:
If a banned user considers they are ready now to contribute in a way that is not going to cause friction, they can appeal the ban to ArbCom.
It seems like part of the problem here is a chicken-and-egg issue. It's hard for banned but possibly reformed people to prove that they have changed because they can't do anything on-wiki. And the cost of giving an umpteenth chance is generally outweighed by any potential benefit.
Is there some sort of off-wiki work people could to do demonstrate good faith in a way that is little burden to us? For example, could we ask people to build an external web page with sources for 100 unsourced articles as a way of proving that they are serious and worthy of consideration for another chance?
Currently, the only way people get unbanned is through pleading, which means we get a lot of pleading. I'd love to channel that energy into something more productive. Or at least something quieter.
William