Sanctions to dissuade toxic users?

I appreciate all the work the moderators do to keep this place running smoothly and respectfully. It's a welcome relief from the facebook style drama and nonsense that seem so rampant. I know that's no accident and I try to support this place as much as I can within my means.

That being said, I think there is a problem with toxic posting that threatens this. Responses to valid criticism are sometimes met with lackadaisical off topic posts, sometimes even including personal public records in an attempt to shame the users about their personal lives. I have reported these posts when I think they are absolutely out of line, but it is a general problem. This isn't an issue of disagreement, it's an obvious troll scenario where the troll is baiting other members, and it's a respect issue. Maybe what I'm asking for is just the "respond to other users with respect" infraction to be given out more liberally? I wish I had a better operational fix, but it's really a "know it when you see it" kind of thing. It really used to only be an issue with low post volume scammers, and was dealt with quite quickly. Unfortunately now that's not the case. The very nature of troll/baiting posts elicits a response, often negative, because it gets the blood boiling. When it comes right down to it, the quality of discourse on this website is degraded by allowing users of this caliber to continue unabated, especially if it's accompanied by large amounts of green chiclets.