@Deathstar, post 23 was a well written expression of virtuous desire to try and be as neutrally grounded as possible. It is a beautiful host of sentiments and I commend you for it.
The problem is, sadly, that in as much as it is commendable and honorable it is also the kind of thing that people like to take advantage of. I've worked with at least one member of the current moderation panel and can tell you from personal experience that he, at least, would more than likely have looked the other way if he felt it at all possible to. I'm not sure if this will help, but I want to detail for you at least part of what goes on between the staff. I'm not going to pretend that mistakes were not made during my time as mod, nor that mistakes cannot and will not be made now, but that's part of the responsibility you carry as a member of staff and it weighs a ton, particularly when you have to take the whole "I don't like you" thing out of the equation. Anyway, here goes a bit of experience:
The only time that a ban occurs without all staff being in on it is if the user in question poses a threat that requires severe action be taken right away, after which the mod who performs the ban in question will go and report to the rest of the moderation panel on the incident. An example of such a decision made by myself can be found here. That decision had to be handed down right there and then because of posts I came across that indicated a user was willing to hack a platform that has been advertised on this site and has gained its playerbase through this site. To my knowledge Ethin is still doing his best to reform and has contacted me personally concerning his past behavior while I was a part of the moderation panel.
From everything I've read on this topic, this user has not attempted by any means to approach the moderation panel to help themselves or their situation in any justifiable way. The moderators all seem to believe that this user is someone who has tried to circumvent their bans and who has a history of doing so. The moderators also believe that this user is trying to distribute illegal or at the very least, controversial material. They have to act, because not to do so is to basically say that anything developers on here are doing can be copycatted or duplicated by anyone else, or worse, stolen so that someone else can make their own port and obtain their own following using someone else's work.
So, I'm not sure how this decision was handed down. I"m not sure if Jayde struck out on his own on this one or not, but I imagine that if he did he felt he had a good reason to. Otherwise it would be like any other decision made by the moderation panel, and any other case is thoroughly discussed between all the mods. No mod or admin at present overwrites any other mod; all provide some semblance of checks and balances. If an agreement cannot be reached by the majority of the panel it is brought to the users of the site and forum for further discussion for the sake of transparency. Should Liam, Jayde or any other member of the staff come across everything I've just posted and wish to clarify, reiterate or offer any other possible fact I may have overlooked given that I am no longer part of the staf and things do change I would welcome it. Until then? Take everything here to the bank. If anyone is acting out of malice they will eventually end up a rather sad, sad person for messing with the moderation panel from inside the moderation panel... Especially, from inside the moderation panel.
In summation, I, personally find post 23 the kind of attitude I like to take; look the other way unless you can prove that someone is doing something super bad. Try to forget their past and come whatever may, then act. But when you're looking out for a community as a whole and not just for yourself, that sometimes isn't an option, admirable as the overall idea may be.
When life gives you oranges, demand lemons since everyone else is obviously getting them.