More lawyers using Facebook to select juries

[eridani]

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/02/looking-to-get-out-of-jury-duty-be-a-social-media-dimwit.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604576150841297191886.html


Facebook is increasingly being used in courts to decide who is—and who isn’t—suitable to serve on a jury, the latest way in which the social-networking site is altering the U.S. court system.

Prosecution and defense lawyers are scouring the site for personal details about members of the jury pool that could signal which side they might sympathize with during a trial. They consider what potential jurors watch on television, their interests and hobbies, and how religious they are.

This is one of those developments that is generating significant talk from both sides of the argument. Lawyers love being able to turn over a rock on a perspective juror that reveals a potential bias that could hurt their client’s chances of victory. Not everyone connected to the law is happy about this development though.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Well, I can't say I disagree...

[era veteran]

2. Everybody on the Facebook should write that

they believe in jury nullification. In KY, for jury duty, you get lectured by the judge on 'following' the law even if you don't agree with it.

[gratuitous]

3. If a lawyer doesn't check, it could be malpractice

If you don't check, someone else surely will.