The American Bar Association (ABA) has approved lawyers scanning potential and serving jurors’ postings on social media sites (Elias, 2014). Leslie Ellis, a Washington D.C. jury consultant, said “prospective juror names generally aren’t available until the morning jury selections begins and that time-constraints limit what can be found online.” Regardless, software is being developed to quickly scan sites and compile profiles of potential jurors. These software packages will help lawyers but is it ethical? The ABA has now stated scouring postings is nothing more than viewing publicly available information.
Philip Kavesh writes it best: “[what] you publish, post or tweet, you are creating permanent records to be judged upon.” This is key to the reasonableness from ABA – people are freely providing a window into their views by posting on social media sites. No one is forcing posting and it’s easy to just not post – or be more thoughtful.
References
Elias, P. (2014, June 22). Bar association says lawyers can check jurors’ social media sites. Daily News. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140622/bar-association-says-lawyers-can-check-jurors-social-media-sites.
Kavesh, P. J. (2012, January 13). Blog for Estate Planning Professionals. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://ultimateestateplanner.com/lawyer/2012/01/13/Continuing-Education/Lawyers–Social-Media—What-You-Need-to-Know_bl3281.htm#sthash.cWbDXCsp.dpuf