Civil Rights
Block on Trump's Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Facebook keeps popping up in unexpected places. The most recent: jury selection. Thanks to Facebook, jury duty just got more personal.
Something as simple as liking the show CSI on Facebook could tell lawyers that a prospective juror may have "unrealistic expectations that DNA evidence could be obtained from every crime scene," the Wall Street Journal reports. Facebook can also be useful to learn things like a potential juror's religion, political beliefs, hobbies and tastes.
It seems that Facebook is increasingly being used in courts to decide who attorneys want to serve on a jury. We have also recently discussed the problem with jurors getting into trouble for using Twitter and Facebook to post trial-related information.
But not everyone believes the practice of digging up information on social media sites is appropriate, including some in the legal community. They contend that the traditional jury-selection process is more appropriate and reliable than conducting a Facebook jury selection.
"I don't think we should abandon that system in favor of Internet snooping ... There are a number people who post who they want to be, as opposed to who they are," Jason Schultz, co-director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Wall Street Journal.
If you find jury duty, Facebook and jury selection interesting, the WSJ article is definitely worth a read. Here are a few of the details that lawyers and jury consultants said they found most useful:
Related Resources:
Sign into your Legal Forms and Services account to manage your estate planning documents.
Sign InCreate an account allows to take advantage of these benefits: