Ruling: judges and lawyers can’t be Facebook friends
With the explosion in popularity of social networking sites, new issues never encountered before have started cropping up. Sites such as Facebook allow you to send invites to be friends with other folks on the site. These online “friendships” have now been deemed inappropriate between judges and lawyers.
According to MSNBC, Florida’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee handed down a ruling forbidding judges to be friends on Facebook with other lawyers. According to the ethics committee, online “friendships” on social media sites such as Facebook, could be misconstrued as a special or influential relationship.
A judge has already posted on her Facebook stating that she is willing to un-friend any lawyers on her list. Apparently, other judges can still post comments on other judge’s site. However, during a judicial election an exception can be made where judge’s can have “fans” that include lawyers.
Some have voiced that having “friends” on Facebook is not the same as having a real life relationship, but is more like keeping a contact or acquaintance list. I suppose this is similar to keeping other lawyer’s phone numbers on judge’s cell phones. However, the distinction is that social media sites are public and can be misconstrued.
The committee fears that some may use the knowledge of the online friendships to accuse a judge of being impartial towards a lawyer. It’s interesting to see the impact social networking is having on the judicial system.
The fact that many social networking sites use the term “friend” or “friends list” may have led to the perception that these online interactions are something more than they really are. I wonder if the ethics committee would have still ruled the same way if social networking sites used words such as “contacts” and “acquaintances.” This precedent may trickle down to other states as well.
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