On another board I've seen the simple and yet elegant solution of keeping an edit history. Anyone can edit their own posts and any time. And anyone else can click on the edit history to see what the content used to be.

(Oh, how I hate running out of votes before the end of the day -- I'd love to have another ++ on hand for this.)

This technical solution effectively supplements the social sanctions we already have. Sure, you can delete your post or retract an overly broad claim, but everyone will see you doing so.

A good memory is part of building a rich community; people can improve on a bad reputation, but they shouldn't be able to make people forget how they've behaved in the past.

I hadn't intended this as a punishment... possibly, I did a bad job explaining my point... possibly it's simply a bad idea.

Keeping an edit history would be a very good idea... unfornatly, it's also fairly difficult. Both, it would be difficult to add to the existing archetecure in a clean matter, and it would take a lot of db space and energy, unless implemented very carefuly.

I have no idea how hard it would be to add to the existing architecture. But the db space isn't that bad. Or at least no worse than letting a few more people post. (My guess is that when people see that a history of changes are left, they won't be as inclined to make cosmetic corrections.)

And whether or not your idea is meant as a punishment, the people who wind up restricted will feel punished.