# Warning "statue of limitations" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 31, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939 "2019-07-31T17:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/21 "2019-07-31T23:39:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Actually, the infraction system does allow us to issue red or yellow cards with different penalties, but we don’t make a distinction here. We don’t issue anything for a moderator note, which the system would call a yellow card or warning. The system calls red cards infractions, which is what we call warnings. (The terminology was developed before the automatic system, and we’ve always felt it would be too confusing to change it at this point). > > I don’t know what you’re looking at, but I assure you they are still there and haven’t expired. Under “latest infractions received” below my subscribed threads, for quite a while there were some things listed. Now since recently there is nothing, and it says “zero points total”. But whatever, I believe you. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/22 "2019-07-31T23:56:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Under “latest infractions received” below my subscribed threads, for quite a while there were some things listed. Now since recently there is nothing, and it says “zero points total”. But whatever, I believe you. You have to look under the “Infractions” tab in your profile to see them. The system allows us to assign different points to different infractions, like points on your driver’s license, but we don’t use that. All warnings have zero points. Although some people advocate that we employ some kind of robotic moderation system, and if you get exactly so many warnings in exactly such a period of time for exactly so many points you’re suspended or banned, as we’ve often said we prefer to handle things on a case-by-case basis. We look at the frequency and severity of offenses, not just their number, to evaluate what if any sanctions to impose. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/23 "2019-08-01T00:22:08Z")
I actually cataloged all of the historical warnings in a table so we could search them easier. It took a bit of time since there were over 1800 of them, and I had to compile them manually. We used to not have any standardized warning categories so mods would describe the warning on their own - to normalize into our current environment I read through several to determine what category they should fall into. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/24 "2019-08-01T12:00:31Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [I really think you’re wrong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq8gfaFqFpI). Awesome - I forgot about that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/25 "2019-08-01T12:22:47Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I actually cataloged all of the historical warnings in a table so we could search them easier. It took a bit of time since there were over 1800 of them, and I had to compile them manually. We thank you for your efforts! Since we’re on the subject, could my record be expunged? I wasn’t mentally fit to stand trial at the time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/26 "2019-08-01T13:44:02Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > If you haven’t received a warning since they started using it, you won’t have one visible to you. If you have, it’s underneath the Subscribed threads in your CP. I don’t see anything. So I have to be a jerk to unlock all the features of this board?! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/27 "2019-08-01T13:47:46Z")
In terms of warnings expiring? It gets brought up every now and again. But I’m not in favor of it. It’s good for us, from time to time, to be able to see a history of behavior that could cause concern and warnings is a way to track that. But Colibri’s right that they sure go stale. While I won’t speak for the others, I know that when I’m examining a poster’s record - or when we’re collectively discussing potential sanctions - I’ll look back for warnings at the six or twelve month distance to see if there’s a pattern of a particular type of warning or whether there’s a particular topic that’s inspiring poor behavior (that’s a real issue in Great Debates and Elections, God knows). But anything much past that? Only if it’s something extremely specific and detailed that I’m looking for data about. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/28 "2019-08-01T13:55:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, they’re still on your permanent record. But the software that automatically tracks them was only implemented 10 years ago or so. So warnings before that are just carved in stone somewhere. Whatever old-timer … those stone tablets were coded into punch cards years ago! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/29 "2019-08-01T18:13:03Z")
The thread title is misleading. I thought it’d be about how far back in the past you could be warned for a post. For a counterfactual example, back in 2004, I called another poster a feckled hemorrhoid. But no one reported me and the moderators at the time didn’t notice. But let’s say here in 2019 someone reads that old post and reports me. Will a moderator issue me a warning, or will the statute of limitations save me? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/30 "2019-08-01T18:37:16Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > The thread title is misleading. I thought it’d be about how far back in the past you could be warned for a post. For a counterfactual example, back in 2004, I called another poster a feckled hemorrhoid. But no one reported me and the moderators at the time didn’t notice. But let’s say here in 2019 someone reads that old post and reports me. Will a moderator issue me a warning, or will the statute of limitations save me? What was the rule about insults in 2004? If such a comment was okay back then I would think you’re “safe”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/31 "2019-08-01T18:47:37Z")
Here’s the official [Moderator Statue of Limitations](https://pamwaits.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/statue-of-limitations.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/32 "2019-08-01T19:01:11Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > The thread title is misleading. I thought it’d be about how far back in the past you could be warned for a post. For a counterfactual example, back in 2004, I called another poster a feckled hemorrhoid. But no one reported me and the moderators at the time didn’t notice. But let’s say here in 2019 someone reads that old post and reports me. Will a moderator issue me a warning, or will the statute of limitations save me? It would most likely save you. Warnings and notes are meant to guide behavior and if something is very stale, it’s not like that would work on guiding anything. I tend not to issue warnings if something is stale, but there is no hard and fast rule. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/33 "2019-08-01T19:20:22Z")
Keep in mind that Warnings, in themselves, are not exactly a punishment. We look at them when we’re deciding whether to do things like suspensions or bannings. And that’s when we consider that one warning wasn’t all that bad, or another one was particularly heinous, or that happened a long time ago and the poster has improved since then, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/34 "2019-08-01T19:21:05Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Since we’re on the subject, could my record be expunged? I wasn’t mentally fit to stand trial at the time. 🙂 > [@A bone to pick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bone-to-pick/837909/25): > > …at some point you slipped a moderator a nice bottle of Scotch to lose your files. > [@A bone to pick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bone-to-pick/837909/46): > > You prefer Glenlivet or Laphroaig? > [@A bone to pick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bone-to-pick/837909/48): > > Glenfiddich as a regular thing, but Laphroaig when I am feeling masochistic.🙂 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/35 "2019-08-01T19:29:29Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > The thread title is misleading. I thought it’d be about how far back in the past you could be warned for a post. For a counterfactual example, back in 2004, I called another poster a feckled hemorrhoid. But no one reported me and the moderators at the time didn’t notice. But let’s say here in 2019 someone reads that old post and reports me. Will a moderator issue me a warning, or will the statute of limitations save me? As far as I’m concerned, it’s a matter of a few days, especially if a thread is no longer active. If something hasn’t been noticed or reported in that time, it’s probably not important, and issuing a warning would do little. However, this should not be taken to indicate that a severe offense that had somehow been overlooked would not be warned further back than that. (One of my favorite things is when a poster, reading through a long thread, reports a post that I already moderated three days ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/36 "2019-08-01T19:31:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Here’s the official [Moderator Statue of Limitations](https://pamwaits.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/statue-of-limitations.jpg). That’s actually a remarkable likeness of **tomndebb**. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/37 "2019-08-01T19:52:05Z")
Remarkably good, or remarkably bad? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/38 "2019-08-02T01:41:53Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > In terms of warnings expiring? It gets brought up every now and again. But I’m not in favor of it. It’s good for us, from time to time, to be able to see a history of behavior that could cause concern and warnings is a way to track that. Whaddya know. The nuns were right about our permanent records following us around for the rest of our lives! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/39 "2019-08-02T01:54:44Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I actually cataloged all of the historical warnings in a table so we could search them easier. It took a bit of time since there were over 1800 of them, and I had to compile them manually. **Bone**? A word? I mean this in the nicest possible way … get help! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939/40 "2019-08-07T20:24:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t think they “officially” expire, but IIRC they tend to count less and less the older they are when the mods are considering whether to Ban or suspend you. IANAM. > > Ten years ago? I don’t think you have much to worry about. > > Guy joins a monastery, where they have a vow of silence. You can only say two words every ten years. > > Ten years go by, the time comes up, and the guy says to his abbot “Food’s bad.” > > Ten more years, the next time comes up, and the guy says “Beds hard.” > > Ten more years go by, and the guy says to the abbot “I quit.” > > “Well, I’m not surprised” says the abbot. “Ever since you got here, it’s been bitch, bitch, bitch.” > > Regards, > Shodan I literally laughed 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-statue-of-limitations/837939.md?page=1)