Study: Most judges tell jurors not to use social media

By Kimberly Atkins Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--Most federal judges tell jurors not to use Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools to communicate information about the trials in which they are sitting, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Federal Judicial Center. About 96 percent of federal judges surveyed said they have taken preventative measures to keep jurors from using social media during trials and deliberations. About 60 percent of judges said they have used the model jury instructions regarding the use of electronic technologies. The model rules were distributed in 2010 to address social media use. Other judges reported using their own jury instructions to warn jurors. Of the 508 federal judges surveyed, only 30 said that they have actually found jurors using social media to communicate about trials or deliberations. Of those, 28 judges said they have only had such incidents occur in one or two trials. When juror social media use was discovered by a judge, the juror was removed in 30 percent of cases, the survey found. In 26 percent of cases, the juror was cautioned but allowed to remain on the jury. In a handful of cases a mistrial was declared, the juror was held in contempt or a fine was imposed on the juror. The survey was conducted at the request of a committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the results were announced by the U.S. Courts on Jan. 24. Entire contents copyrighted © 2012 by The Dolan Company. Published: Mon, Feb 13, 2012