Is there any experience with merely hiding abusive commenters. That is, I'd like the option to be able mark an individual as hidden so that I don't have to read

Is there any experience with merely hiding abusive commenters. That is, I'd like the option to be able mark an individual as hidden so that I don't have to read his comments again; the individual is still public to anyone who hasn't marked him. Over time it seems there could be multiple self selecting communities within the same comment section.