Pat Carr wrote:
The assertion was that the general case is that blocks are renewed "very quickly". This does seem to be true, since most blocks are placed due to ongoing edits. Thus, the blocked user will usually hit edit soon after the block is in effect.
OK, this might apply to the majority cases, but it is still a wrong thing to do precisely because of the minority cases such as the following example:
Imagine you're such an editor who got caught up in an edit war. You then make a decision to stop, close your browser and cool off at pretty much the same time that an admin decides to block you for some policy (personal attacks, say).
The next day -- 20 hours later -- you have cooled off and you vow to approach the issue with a clearer mind now. You discover you're banned for the next 24 hours. Your cooling off is instantaneously undone.
Timwi