Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Courts to Jurors: Please Stop Tweeting, For Realz

by Matthew Zuras on February 9, 2010 at 03:28 PM

So, we don't even know where to start with this one. It seems as though jurors serving on active court cases are tweeting details about the trials. Really? Yes.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which frames policy for federal courts, issued an updated set of model jury instructions late last month to explicitly prohibit sharing and researching trial information through the Internet. This does not apply to state courts, which govern their own judiciaries. But the fact that Florida recently barred lawyers and judges from becoming Facebook friends (a conflict of interest of epic proportions) indicates that the states have just as much trouble keeping the courtroom off of the Web.

Having been instructed by every courtroom film from the brilliant '12 Angry Men' to the dreadful 'Jury Duty,' we do know one thing: jurors are plain not allowed to talk about a case with anyone but their fellow jurors. You would think that sitting through an arduous selection process would be indication enough that jurors are expected to remain impartial, and that discussing the case with outsiders is simply not okay.

Jury duty may pay worse than McDonald's and can be cripplingly boring, but it's one of the few times that Americans are forced to perform their civic duties and help with the execution of justice. Is it so much to ask that, during these rare instances, we turn off our cell phones and refrain from tweeting? Using your phone during a movie is considered a flagrant faux pas, so why not exercise the same restraint when someone's freedom, or very life, hangs in the balance? [From: Wired]

Tags: court, internet, jury, law, socialnetworking, top, twitter

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular