Erik Moeller wrote:
For reasons unknown to me, the arbitration committee currently only accepts cases directly referred to it by you. This should be changed ASAP.
The reason is that they were still in the process of working out internal procedures when I pressured them to get going on some real cases. I did that because some sysops were starting to feel a need to be more aggressive than our traditions would support out of a growing sense that we were in a state of anarchy where trolls were getting ever more bold.
The arbitration committee agreed to handle some emergency cases, but prefers to go slowly in figuring out all their procedures otherwise.
What we always do: Refine our processes. It's a delicate balance. If you have too many rules, people feel constrained by them, which causes unhappiness. If you have too few, people disagree about interpreting them, which causes conflict. Right now I think we can deal with a little more unhappiness if it gives us a little less conflict.
*nod*
--Jimbo