Karl A. Krueger said:
It would be unfortunate if people became afraid to report real abuses because they did not want to be forced to defend themselves from unfair or untrue accusations by the abuser.
I don't buy that for one second. The whole point about an arbitration case is that the thing has reached a point where some kind of executive action is required. Unfair and untrue accusations are, by their very nature, not going to get anywhere with an evidence-based, proactive arbcom, and there are advocates and a right of appeal.
Well, I wasn't actually discussing the issue of untrue accusations, but rather the concern about bringing an obvious policy violator before ArbCom for fear of being put under investigative microscope yourself. The difference between the system here and that in the real world is that here the person making the accusation is also automatically both the prosecuting attorney and the defendant in an inevitable counter-suit; this is a heavy burden, and a serious disincentive to "get involved".
Jay.