QUOTE(Somey @ Mon 8th August 2011, 7:46pm)
And you wouldn't be deleting the comments from uninvolved parties, you'd be moving them to the talk page, or else a subpage called "Statements by Uninvolved Parties," right? I mean, assuming they weren't malicious or just-plain-dumb statements to begin with.
Even "statements from uninvolved parties" on a sub-page or talk page is more complicated than I would want, and just shifts the drama and the arbitrator's attention, which is limited anyway. Were I making the rules, I would start with something like this:
QUOTE
New accounts that (1) have no significant interaction with the parties, (2) have no significant experience editing articles in the area of dispute, and (3) have no significant experience with dispute resolution, are not permitted to add evidence or workshop proposals. Such accounts may comment on the associated talk pages. Evidence or proposals left by such accounts will be transferred to their user talk pages with a polite note of "thanks, but no thanks." Such editors may ask any Arbitrator for a waiver of this rule, which will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
The reason for this is that new accounts with no prior interaction with the parties or topic of conflict are often alternate accounts of other users, who are either under some kind of restriction or who are trying to avoid accountability for their participation. The use of alternate accounts in Arbitration proceedings is not allowed. In the case of true new users who have a good-faith interest in dispute resolution, we thank you for your interest and ask that you try your hand at one of the other steps in the process where the stakes aren't so high.
That would be my starting point for a negotiation/discussion.
QUOTE(Somey @ Mon 8th August 2011, 7:46pm)
As always, I'd be wary of such rules being used to silence people who go against the party line...
That's the argument for a bright-line edit count-based rule, so that discretion can't be abused. (It's also the argument for zero tolerance policies in US schools that result in kids getting expelled for bringing an ibuprofen capsule to school without a parent's note and turning it over to the school nurse. It's a stupid argument, necessary only because even stupider people sometimes abuse their discretion.)