Monkey Court Guidebook

[Admin]

Literate Monkeys is a unique community that discusses art, culture, and techy stuff. Occasionally, a member may try to ruin that experience. In the event that a member breaks forum rules, they will be brought to Monkey Court by a moderator, administrator, or even YOU, the general user; When users report posts, moderators and administrators deal with actions that follow.

Agenda Disciplinae

a. Only administrators or moderators may start a case thread. If a punished member (Monkey) wishes to appeal the punishment, they may send an administrator or moderator an appeal request. Do not send the appeal request to the moderator who punished/warned you.

b. After the appeal thread is created, (only one appeal thread per punishment), a copy of the unmodified post, threat, or private message will be included in the first post by Admin. (if applicable)
(Note to mods: In order to verify/prove your case, you MUST keep full records of posts you delete and submit them to Admin)

c. From there, the Monkey who wishes to appeal his/her punishment may make ONE (1) post describing their reason for appeal. The Monkey has 48 hours from the creation of the appeal thread to write this response and post it. If the monkey fails to post his appeal within the given time frame without an acceptable excuse, the appeal will be closed. Only under sufficient circumstances can an appeal be reopened.

d. After the monkey posts his appeal, the moderator/administrator that issued the punishment will write a rebuttal and post it. If the punishment administer does not write a rebuttal, then the case will be transferred to another authority, as dictated by King Monkey (Admin).

e. At this point, the twelve senior members of the forum, indicated by the rank Gibbon - will change from time to time) will review the case in cooperation with all administrators and moderators. Gibbons shall hold their Offices during good Behavior. The Gibbons and moderators will write one draft resolution describing their recommended course of action.

f. In the rare case that no acceptable outcome is reached, the case will be opened to the public, and the public jury will decide the validity of the punishment through moderated caucus. Note that punishments can be amended as well, this is not a "black and white" community. Also note that the seniority rule applies, and more comprehensive posts, including a valid "why" factor, will be weighed more than lame posts. See "Guide for Public Juries" below.

Occasionally some cases require steps "e" and "f" to be reversed. In this instance, Lex Publica will be enacted, and moderated caucus in step "f" will precede the Senior Jury decision.

g. Resolution: A resolution to the case will be posted. Occasionally, there may be a mutual agreement between Admin and the Monkey to withhold the final resolution from the public.
Admin always holds final Appellate Jurisdiction. After the hearing, King Monkey will discuss with other administrators a viable resolution, and inform the appellant. Occasionally, a respected moderator may be chosen by Admin and the Gibbons in loco Adminis.

In After "f.," we will hold a moderated caucus, where users may submit their opinions. These opinions usually have little affect in the final resolution. Users who are in any way related to the case can NOT input their opinions. Observers, simple witnesses, however, may input their opinion. Admin will call Decorum when he feels that the topic is getting out of hand or enough input has been received. At this point, users are not permitted to add further input. Input may still be sent as a PM to Admin, or a moderator, however.


Rules of Formal Debate (To be modified at a later date) But tentatively as follows:
- No speaking out of turn. Posts in Monkey Court follow VERY STRICT guidelines, and any speaking out of turn will result in an immediate warning/punishment.

- Everything you say in monkey court must be true.

- Anything you say can be used against you

- Swearing will not tolerated.

- You may not edit your posts -- it is like writing on a stone tablet.

- Try to be civilized and not angry when you write something. You must be coherent and understandable or else your post will be deleted.

[karanlyons]

I am wary as to the guilty until proven innocent idea. For instance, what if someone is on vacation when they are put on trial, and can't make a defense? And what if someone just randomly decides to put them on trial for no reason, and that person gets banned because they couldn't defend themselves against an idiotic attack?

[Destroyer]

Yes but go to any other forum. Is there even a trial?? No. You just get banned. In this forum, we all know each other (for the most part). Therefore, if someone is on vacation, he or she can tell the admin and he'll probably understand. Don't question our priviliges.

[Admin]

I am wary as to the guilty until proven innocent idea. For instance, what if someone is on vacation when they are put on trial, and can't make a defense? And what if someone just randomly decides to put them on trial for no reason, and that person gets banned because they couldn't defend themselves against an idiotic attack?

Karan... technically its not guilty until proven innocent. You got banned, for breaking one of the rules, and then if you WANT, you can start an appeal, SOMETHING which other forums do NOT offer. They would just ban you, and then say sayonara. If you were going on vacation, you would know, hence you wouldn't start an appeal two days before you went on vacation, or if you knew you would be out of internet access. Say for some reason you were kicked off the face of the earth for 48 hours without access to wifi, that may fall under a "sufficient circumstance," as dictated by the guidebook. Admins do not put people on trial, they give them a punishment, which are usually not given out often, and then the user may send an appeal to the admin if necessary.

[Razor]

I am curious about the no-edit rule... elaborate, please?

[karanlyons]

I am curious about the no-edit rule... elaborate, please?

You can't edit a post that's in a discussion about you appealing a ban. Anywhere else you can, but it's polite to add EDIT: followed by your changes.

[Razor]

I am curious about the no-edit rule... elaborate, please?

You can't edit a post that's in a discussion about you appealing a ban. Anywhere else you can, but it's polite to add EDIT: followed by your changes.

I know that, but why? What if one were to make a spelling or grammatical error of some kind? What then?

[karanlyons]

I am curious about the no-edit rule... elaborate, please?

You can't edit a post that's in a discussion about you appealing a ban. Anywhere else you can, but it's polite to add EDIT: followed by your changes.

I know that, but why? What if one were to make a spelling or grammatical error of some kind? What then?

Tough? The gibbons aren't going to care, so long as you state your case truthfully, and use English (^_^)

[Admin]

No more posts in this sticky please. If you have any suggestions for the Monkey Court guidebook, please place them in the site Announcements forum.