This may have been discussed before. If so, apologies.
Why not make the checkuser function available to all admins? There are constant allegations of sockpuppetry, and I'm sure there are plenty of cases of ballot-stuffing or fake-consensus-building which go unnoticed because someone's suspicions weren't enough to both a developer with. Having the function available to all admins would cut down on a lot of this underhandedness.
If there is a problem concerning privacy, such as making IP addresses available (I'm not sure exactly what the checkuser funcion shows), when couldn't it be modified to only show which users have been created by the same IP (i.e., put in a name, and it shows you the other users)
If there is a problem concerning privacy for legitamate uses of alternate accounts, such as keeping edits separate or not wanting to be stalked by another user, then I'm sure it couldn't be too hard to modify the code to show only those sockpuppets that have edited the same page. Even if we accept that there are legitamate uses for alternate accounts, such accounts ought never to edit the same page.
Any thoughts?
Sam
-- Asbestos http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Asbestos