Judges, Lawyers Told Not to Facebook Each Other
Judges and attorneys in Florida have been instructed to not to friend each other on Facebook.
According to the Palm Beach Post, the state Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has ruled that Florida’s judges and lawyers should no longer connect with each other on Facebook.
"The committee believes that listing lawyers who may appear before the judge as 'friends' on a judge's social networking page reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer 'friends' are in a special position to influence the judge," the committee wrote.
The PB Post goes on to say that while a spot check shows a lot of judges don't actually have Facebook pages, there are some people upset enough to speak out about the ruling.
"I know lawyers who go to lunch with judges all the time," Grey Tesh, a West Palm Beach attorney said. "I don't think it makes a squat bit of difference if you're a Facebook friend or not."
Others argued that being friends on Facebook isn't the same as being friends in real life, claiming that friending someone online is more just an acknowledgment that you know the person.
The ruling is not limited to just Facebook, it covers all social networking.
Read the full story here.
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I don't know it I follow this one...
I could understand if they talked about cases online. But I am sure more back room talks happen everyday and face book isn't going to slow any of that down.
Guess their may be more to this story then the press is letting on.
Call me old fashioned but what is wrong with the simple e-mail that can be highly encrypted with shared keys along with other methods. Last time I checked all three major OS's (Linux, OS X and Windows) still had email clients.
The fad known as Facebook and Twitter are very unsecure.
All the times I've been in a courtroom, the lawyers and the judge seemed to be well acquainted with each other. I assumed that it was part of a lawyer's job to befriend the judges at the courthouses they frequent. I don't really see how 'friending' each other on a social networking site is going to make much of a difference. Of course, I can't say I'd really want a lawyer representing me that uses social networking
That's because they all go the the best S&M and wife swapping parties.
They're all a bunch of evil crooks anyway...I've known a few lawyers in my day, and even most of them admit it.