Comma complaints

Every so often, people try to tell me that in a list of three things you should only have one comma, not two. Often there is no ambiguity and it's purely a matter of taste. I just found a nice example where it matters. Can you tell the difference between the meanings?

According to Smith, Nelson, and Wilson, "the perpetrators of the act, lacking a moral compass, do not feel remorse for their actions."

According to Smith, Nelson and Wilson, "the perpetrators of the act, lacking a moral compass, do not feel remorse for their actions."

The first implies that there are three authors of the quoted selection (Smith, Nelson, and Wilson) who tell us that the perps do not feel remorse. The second implies that there is only one author (Smith) who tells us that Nelson and Wilson ARE the perps who do not feel remorse.

If you are Nelson or Wilson, I hope you will sincerely join me in the two-comma faction. I will agree with anyone who thinks there are far too many commas in that sentence in the first place and that it could be more elegantly arranged to avoid the problem altogether.