Social Media and the Judiciary

Benjamin Holden
Director, Reynolds National Center for Courts and Media

Michael S. Sommermeyer
Lead Program Analyst, Supreme Court of Nevada

Social Media
Open Communication Tools Direct Engagement of Court Customers Facilitates Communication

Risks
Ethical Questions Potential Misuse and Abuse Your Message May Be Hijacked

Opportunities
Transform Judicial Transparency Demonstrate Access to Justice, Equality and Fairness Learn About Customer Needs

What I Did Today!

Social Media Impacts the Judiciary

A juror in Arkansas uses Twitter after a $12 million verdict. Nine jurors in Florida searched Google for more information resulting in a mistrial. A juror in England polled her Facebook friends for advice on how the case should be decided. A US District Court Judge (Kansas) allows a reporter to send Twitter messages (tweets) directly from the courtroom. 8NewsNow (Las Vegas) uses iPhones to videotape defendants in the courtroom for an iPhone App.

I just had to tell someone! Can the genie be put back into the bottle?

Social Networking Tenets

Open Collaborative Free access Individual profiles People Connector Information Sharing

If Youre Not Talking, Someone Is

Lawyers using Judgepedia to rank good and bad judges. Customers complaining about bad service at the Court Clerks Counter. Employees complaining about customers on Facebook and Twitter. Lawyers posting comments about judges on blogs. Sour types complaining just to complain.

Court Transparency

Social media is open and transparent. It reveals process. It allows for instant feedback. It is not without risk.

Judicial Canons and Social Media

Social Media misuse may constitute ex parte communication.

North Carolina Public Reprimand of Terry, North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission, Inquiry No. 08-234, April 1, 2009

Social Media does not necessarily result in undue influence.

Ethics Committee of the Kentucky Judiciary, Formal Judicial Ethics Op. JE-119 (2010)

Judges should be mindful of the appearance created when [using] a social network.

New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, Op. 08-176 (2009)

Judges Facebook Page

Social Media Is Not Going Away

Its human nature to talk about people, services and events. Ignore social media at your own peril. Engagement leads to better relationships. Traditional media less relevant. Reach new engaged and empowered audiences. Constituencies demand more open access and input.

Consider A Social Media Policy

Develop a court strategy for using social media to communicate to constituencies. Develop court policies for using Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Wiki-sites. Incorporate policy or best practices into orientation. Develop social media tools before others do and put words into your mouth.

Basic Social Media Tools

Twitter.com Build community. Facebook.com Involve constituents. Wordpress.org Create/Distribute Blog content. Linkedin.com Career relationships. Lextweet.com Professional Networking. Google Alerts Monitor Social Media. TweetBeep.com Monitor Twitter Mentions.

The Least You Need to Know

Social Media allows for instant monitoring, opens up communication and can extend other efforts. Ignore at your peril. Develop policy in advance and consider potential misuse. Rules and strategies required limits are needed for certain forums.

The Least You Need to Know

Rapid response needed to be effective. Social media tools encourage communication. Use social media tools to engage communities and customers. Tell your story directly to many audiences. Time intensive and requires diligence.

Notes

The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists, Gregory Curtis, Random House, 2007, ISBN 1-40007887-3, p. 230 Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition: The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis, Esther Herrmann, Josep Call, Mara Victoria Hernndez-Lloreda, Brian Hare, Michael Tomasello, Science Vol. 317. no. 5843, pp. 1360 1366 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/317/5843/1360 Jurors: Keep Your E-Fingers to Yourselves, Eric Sinrod, FindLaw, September 15, 2009 http://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2009/09/jurors-keep-youre-fingers-to-yourselves.html A Legal Battle: Online Attitude vs. Rules of the Bar, John Schwartz, The New York Times, September 12, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13lawyers.html?_r=1 http://www.22tweets.com/ http://www.lvcourtsblog.com http://www.twitter.com/NHCourts http://www.facebook.com/ClarkCountyCourts.NV The Supreme Court of Ohio Op. 2010-7, December 3, 2010 North Carolina Public Reprimand of Terry, North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission, Inquiry No. 08-234, April 1, 2009 Ethics Committee of the Kentucky Judiciary, Formal Judicial Ethics Op. JE-119 (2010) New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, Op. 08-176 (2009) New Media and the Courts: The Current Status and A Look at the Future, Conference of Court Public Information Officers, August 2010