# If you're banned, can you come back? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 25, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348 "2001-04-25T22:36:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/1 "2001-04-25T22:36:35Z")
[list=1] [li]Do the mods or admins have the power to resurrect someone after he/she has been banned? If so, has this ever happened? Under what circumstances?[/li] [li]Common sense and good manners would dictate that once you’ve been kicked out, you shouldn’t want to return. But for the truly clueless or malicious, it seems to be easy enough to sign on again under a new alias, with a new ISP and e-mail address. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this abuse?[/li][/list=1] Not that _I’m_ trying to pull any such tricks, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/2 "2001-04-25T23:12:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philistine \* > \*\*[list=1] > [li]Do the mods or admins have the power to resurrect someone after he/she has been banned? If so, has this ever happened? Under what circumstances?[/li] \*\* Yes, they can. If they ban someone by mistake, they can correct it. But if you get banned for being a jerk, don’t expect another chance. You will, however, usually get a warning before being banned. > [@](#): > > \*\* > [li]Common sense and good manners would dictate that once you’ve been kicked out, you shouldn’t want to return. But for the truly clueless or malicious, it seems to be easy enough to sign on again under a new alias, with a new ISP and e-mail address. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this abuse?[/li][/list=1] \*\* Usually, sock puppets give screw up at some point and reveal who they are. That’s when they get the whammy again. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/3 "2001-04-26T01:39:19Z")
Zev’s right. Banned, as a general rule, means banned. We have a lot of means to make sure someone doesn’t come back, but as any system, nothing’s perfect. IF someone gets a new ISP and signs on again with a new e-mail address, there’s no way to tell they’re _persona non grata_. But as zev said, they usually screw up anyway. And if they behave like a model poster forever, we’ll never now - and we frankly don’t care. All we want is to keep the idiots out. If they return reformed, and we can’t tell, there’s still no harm. There is, however, a very short list of people who will get banned no matter how good they behave, and how many times they return. I suppose stepping over the line REAL good is a talent as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/4 "2001-05-12T07:25:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\* > There is, however, a very short list of people who will get banned no matter how good they behave, and how many times they return. I suppose stepping over the line REAL good is a talent as well. \*\* Really? Who is on this list? What did they do to get put there? Did they all do the same things? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/5 "2001-05-12T09:30:08Z")
Serlin and concrete are probably on “the list”. I imagine John John is there, too. I don’t want to speculate too much, but those three, I think, would be on the “permanently banned” list simply because each one tried to sneak back several times. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/6 "2001-05-12T16:03:08Z")
Most people who are not moderators have “member” under their names. But I’ve sometimes seen “BANNED” under someone’s name. I don’t get it. I though being banned meant you could no longer log on or post. Does “BANNED” go under the exiled person’s name retroactively, on all his/her past posts? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/7 "2001-05-12T16:11:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hazel \* > \*\*Does “BANNED” go under the exiled person’s name retroactively, on all his/her past posts? \*\* Yes. The Board software, when it composes the page you are looking at (including this one right now) does a look-up to see what the status is of each member. Thus, if someone was posting 2 years ago, and is just now banned, then when you look at their 2-year old post, vBulletin will do a look-up, see what the User status is of everyone in the thread, and put it under their names. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/8 "2001-05-13T06:51:30Z")
… If they could put the banning tag as "Banned On xx xx xx so the two year old post are not so cornfusing? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/9 "2001-05-13T16:04:33Z")
reminds me of this quote, which is true for board members too: It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. Arthur C. Clarke ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/10 "2001-05-13T16:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CatBiker \* > \*\*… If they could put the banning tag as "Banned On xx xx xx so the two year old post are not so cornfusing? \*\* Not an option for us right now. Sorry. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/11 "2001-05-13T20:14:19Z")
Occasionally, I’ve seen too stupid to be believed. Or something like that. Hehehehe! ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/12 "2001-05-19T23:07:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CatBiker \* > \*\*… If they could put the banning tag as "Banned On xx xx xx so the two year old post are not so cornfusing? \*\* Just click on that person’s profile and see when their last post was made. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/13 "2001-05-20T02:40:49Z")
In essence banned means permanently banned. There are rare exceptions to this, however, and I suppose I’m one of them. A bit over a year ago I trolled the site and got a banned a handful of times. Then I quit trolling and became an anonymous member for a while… while contributing. Well eventually I came clean about what I did/who I was, apoligized, voiced my good intentions, got a lot of shit, and yet here I am a year later. I wouldn’t recommend going that route. But it at least makes for an interesting story. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-banned-can-you-come-back/63348/14 "2001-05-20T02:53:17Z")
One thing to remember about banned people who come back is that when they do come back (under their new IP, presumably), they have two chocies. They can either behave as normal, upstanding SDMB posters, in which case they won’t likely be ‘found out’ and rebanned; or they can act as badly as they did the previous time around, in which case they absolutely be rebanned. So it’s almost like they’re giving themselves one more chance. And if they screw it up, they’re gone. Again.