Will Google, Facebook, and Twitter Kill The Justice System?
Posted 03/28/09 at 10:36:14 PM by Justin Kerr
Comments
Print
Email
It turns out Twitter can be used for more than just reading bad haikus, it can also be used to derail 8 weeks of legal proceedings, and get a case thrown in to mistrial. Last week, a Florida juror in a high profile drug trial officially went on record and admitted to the judge that he’d researched part of the case over the Internet. Normally a single biased juror isn’t a big deal; you simply eject the person in question and continue. But when the judge dug a bit further, he was shocked to find that eight other jurors had all committed the same offence. As a result a “Google” mistrial was called, and the justice system is starting to worry about the long term trends this case demonstrated.
This isn’t the first time the internet and social media has been accused of interfering with justice either. A few weeks back an Arkansas court was asked to overturn a $12.6 million dollar judgment by claiming that a juror was releasing details of the case on Twitter. Tweets such as “a big announcement is coming Monday” might seem harmless, but to the courts, they represent a grave threat to the justice system that is nearly impossible to solve. Currently jurors are warned in advance not seek information outside the courtroom, but with the answer to almost every question at our finger tips these days, the temptation to cheat seems to be getting to the best of us.
With access to the internet via mobile devices getting easier every day, do you think this is a problem the courts will ever solve? Or will we have to lock up all the twitterholics?
This is what we get...
Submitted by neo1piv14 on Mon, 03/30/2009 - 5:09am
So just to make sure we're on the same page, we've all been told from a young age to question what we're told, to go out and learn on our own, to research facts before we form an opinion...until it really matters. If knowing the facts about a case biases the jurors, then maybe one side was screwed from the beginning. Lawyers should know what kind of information is available on the internet, in the newspaper, and on TV, and should be prepared to answer for that. If I ever went to trial, I'd want to have the most informed jurors possible deciding what was going to happen to me. Personally, I don't think that's the same thing as having jurors only know what's spoonfed to them in a court room.
Submitted by timmyw on Tue, 03/31/2009 - 9:12pm
The problem is two-fold. We all know that the Internet is full of "facts" that have absolutely no regard for the truth. Second, the limitation is so that only evidence that has been legally obtained is admissable.
How often do we a trial judged in the media long before it sees the inside of a courtroom. You want your jurors getting their "facts" from these sources.
Yes, lawyers should know what information is available and if they care about their client they will make sure that information gets to the juror the way it is supposed to--in a courtroom where cross examination and rebuttal are handled fairly.
For the record, I am not a lawyer. In fact, I believe this country has about fifty times too many lawyers. But I for one wouldn't want some Yahoo! using The Google to find answers (i.e. what some sensationalist media outlet, or prejudiced blogger wrote).
I would be massive ticked if some twit twittered away my weeks of jury service. I just spent three days on a jury and I know our judge continually admonished the jurors what not to do. I mean he repeated anytime we left the courtroom.
Submitted by rb3m on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 5:44pm
Just one more argument in favor of professional jurors.
Submitted by ubuwalker31 on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 11:26am
All that judges have to do is make it clear to jurors not to read the newspaper or research the internet at home. If the stakes are so high for a particular case, the jurors could be sequestored at a hotel without a tv/radio/cell phone/internet access. I don't see this as such a big deal. Trials were fine when jurors watched the TV news to see the case on TV...is the internet so different? Not really.
Imprisoned Jurors
Submitted by Sonickid101 on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 8:23am
So your pretty much selectively locking up Jurors for indefinate ammounts of time albeit in a hotel room not a cell. The only difference between a Juror and an inmate then is one is being considered doing a public service during thier time there. So many things in our government are outdates and need to be updated theres no way the founding fathers could have know about the internet, twitter, cell phones, or google.
Submitted by KaylaKaze on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 8:00am
Maybe our "justice" system should stop living in the 18th century and evolve. It doesn't work anyway.
Submitted by ApoX-911 on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 4:10am
sounds like the courts may have to go further when someone is selected for grand jury. I know most times, the jury is put up in hotels with no more interaction that is needed with the outside world. It may piss a few people off, but I dont see it as too far a stretch to confiscate and hold cellphones and put up jurors in non internet connected locations.
All important messages to a juror can be sent through a court secretary.
It may seem a bit harsh, but dont yell at the legal system for this, yell at the idiots that are mentioned above.
Submitted by ferds7 on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 9:26pm
Sounds like the lawyers need to do a better job of filtering out the less than intelligent people.
Must Read Articles
Feature
Review
Feature
Feature
Feature
Most Popular Articles
This Month's Issue
FEATURE How to Get FREE Programs, Services, Software & MoreFEATURE Digital Photo Printer RoundupHOW TOBuild a 3D CameraFEATUREDIY Arcade PCWHITE PAPERHow TRIM Works
Technology News
Computer Cooling Fans
Computer Cases
PC Game Controllers
PC Games
Computer Hardware
Headphones
MP3 Players
Stream Video
Computer Mouse
Monitors
Motherboards
NAS Storage
Networking
Laptop Computers
DVD Burner
Digital Cameras
Portable Storage
Computer Accessories
Smartphone
Antivirus Software
Sound Cards
Speakers
Computer Systems
Thumb Drives
Video Cameras
Video Card Reviews
Water Cooling
Gadgets
- Keyboards
© 2009 Future US, Inc. All Rights Reserved.