User:Maxim/ArbCom and desysops

This page presents two tables on all ADMINCOND cases, as well as other cases where specific administrators were sanctioned, from 2010 to present. The purpose of compiling this data was to assess the likelihood of an admin "getting off" when the subject of an accepted ADMINCOND case. During the review, it became useful to additionally note other cases, typically broader in scope, that have resulted in a specific administrator being sanctioned. A full survey of Wikipedia:Arbitration/Index/Cases was performed from 2010 to present. The cut-off year of 2010, while slightly arbitrary, was used because it is when the committee could be said to have "matured". At this point, it started to take on significantly less cases per year (30 in 2009, 14 in 2010), and to not take "easier" cases that could be more easily handled by the community. A cut-off also helps compare like to like with respect to expected standards of administrator conduct, which have changed with time.

Some preliminary findings as follows:

• The Arbitration Committee, on average, hears 3 ADMINCOND cases per year.
• Since 2012–2013, there has been a precipitous decline in administrators being sanctioned during cases with a broader scope.
• The chances of an administrator avoiding a loss of permissions as a central party to a case are very poor. While 5 of the 41 listed cases (~12%) did not end up in a desysoping or resignation, consideration must be made for some of these cases that weren't quite purely ADMINCOND cases (e.g. Magioladitis, Gamaliel and others) or where the final decision suggests that perhaps the case ought not have been accepted (Michael Hardy). As far as cases that most fit the mold of having a scope to "examine an administrator's conduct with regards to ADMINCOND", GiantSnowman is the only strong example of administrator not being desysoped as a result of such a case.

And some further thoughts (19 November 2021):

• The idea to tabulate this data probably came out of some combination of an arbcom-en thread which was sort of a post-mortem on the RexxS case and an Iridescent-talk megathread. While there was a range of topics in those discussions—from case naming to RfA reform—the overall context was the aftermath of the contentious RexxS case.
• The numbers are just that: numbers. This essay just appears to be the first time someone went and tabulated the outcome of what can be construed as "modern" ADMINCOND cases. I'm not trying to pass any value judgment on the numbers, but to give a population analysis for a given definition of a "modern" ArbCom.
• I didn't consider declined cases, nor did I consider similar ANI threads, because that wasn't really the point of the table. To be specific, the point was to answer what happens if an administrator is involved in an accepted arbitration case, particularly an ADMINCOND one. Dear reader, you may make of these numbers what you will.

Further thoughts, 5 June 2023:

• In the context of a new requests for arbitration along the "themes" discussed on this page, I note that there have been a couple of recent cases that were resolved by a desysop motion, namely Dbachmann (2023) and Athaenara (2022).
• Within the 2010–present time frame, ADMINCOND-style or similar cases that were resolved by motions more likely ended up with warnings or admonishments, namely Timwi (2022), Future Perfect at Sunrise (2018), Kww (2014), Kevin Gorman (2014), Kevin (2013), Hex (2013), Nabla (2011), Trusilver (2010), and this 2010 mess. There is also a case dismissal by motion: YellowMonkey (2010).
• In contrast to the 10 examples of warnings or admonishments above, there are three additional desysops-by-motion: Dreadstar (2015), EncycloPetey (2012) and Craigy144 (2010).

Another update, 18 June 2026:

• Since late 2024, involuntary desysops overwhelmingly go through the administrator recall process. ArbCom remains a possible venue, but recall is a much lower-friction venue.

Table 1: ADMINCOND-style cases

Year	Case	Result
2026	Pbsouthwood	Suspend and desysop
2024	Mzajac	Suspend and desysop
2023	AlisonW	Desysop
2023	Scottywong	Desysop
2022	Stephen	LEVEL2 desysop overturned
2022	Reversal and reinstatement of Athaenara's block	Two admonishments, loss of CU and OS
2022	Geschichte	Suspend and desysop
2022	Jonathunder	Suspend and desysop
2021	Carlossuarez46	Suspend and desysop
2021	RexxS	Desysop
2020	RHaworth	Desysop
2020	Kudpung	Desysop
2019	Fram	Desysop
2019	Reversion of office actions	Administrator resigned
2019	Rama	Desysop
2019	Enigmaman	Desysop
2019	Alex Shih	Suspend and desysop
2019	GiantSnowman	Restriction on tool usage
2018	Fred Bauder	Desysop
2018	Andrevan	Resignation
2017	Arthur Rubin	Desysop
2017	Magioladitis 2	Desysop
2017	Magioladitis	Editing restriction
2016	The Rambling Man	Resignation
2016	Michael Hardy	Reminder for administrator and committee
2016	Gamaliel and others	Two administrators admonished
2016	Kevin Gorman	Desysop
2015	Neelix	Resignation
2015	Kww and The Rambling Man	Desysop (Kww)
2015	Sockpuppet investigation block	Desysop (Chase me)
2015	Toddst1	Inactivity removal under cloud
2015	Wifione	Resignation and ban
2014	DangerousPanda	Desysop
2014	Kafziel	Desysop
2014	Nightscream	Desysop
2013	Kiefer.Wolfowitz and Ironholds	Desysop
2013	SchuminWeb	Suspend and desysop
2012	Fae	Resignation and ban
2012	Rich Farmbrough	Desysop; another administrator admonished
2011	Cirt and Jayen466	Desysop, I-ban and editing restrictions
2011	Rodhullandemu	Desysop and ban
2010	MZMcBride 2	Resignation and admonition

Table 2: Broader-scope cases

Year	Case	Result
2025	Article titles and capitalisation 2	Administrator warned
2025	Palestine-Israel articles 5	Administrator warned
2024	Conflict of interest management	Loss of administrator and bureaucrat permissions
2023	Industrial agriculture	Administrator admonished, restricted
2020	Medicine	Administrator topic-banned
2020	Portals	Administrator desysoped
2018	Conduct of Mister Wiki editors	Administrator desysoped/resigned
2015	Arbitration enforcement 2	Administrator admonished
2014	Media Viewer RfC	Administrator resigns
2013	Ebionites 3	Administrator resigns, topic-banned, I-banned
2013	Manning naming dispute	Administrator admonished
2013	Infoboxes	Administrator admonished
2013	Tea Party movement	Administrator admonished
2013	Doncram	Administrator admonished
2012	Perth	Two administrators admonished, one administrator desysoped
2012	TimidGuy ban appeal	Administrator desysoped and banned
2012	Civility enforcement	Administrator desysoped
2011	Racepacket	Administrator admonished
2011	AE sanction handling	Administrator advised
2010	Climate change	Multiple administrators sanctioned

See also

• User:Thryduulf/What happened after a desysop