Tuesday, December 27, 2016

SOCIAL MEDIA

The President-elect of the United States tweets. 

Should Judges engage in social media? 

Should they blog about legal or social issues? 

Should they explain, via a blog, why they ruled a certain way? 

Should they tweet? 

Could they blog about their favourite restaurant or book or movie or play or museum (assuming they read literature and are a patron of the arts)?

Or should they remain cloistered in their chambers, unknowing and unknowable to the general public?

Yes, we know there are Bar rules and Rules of Judicial Conduct, but who really reads those?

For example, Florida Judicial Cannon 5 states:


A. Extrajudicial Activities in General. A judge shall conduct all of the judge's extra-judicial activities so that they do not:
(1) cast reasonable doubt on the judge's capacity to act impartially as a judge;
(2) undermine the judge's independence, integrity, or impartiality;
(3) demean the judicial office;
(4) interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties;
(5) lead to frequent disqualification of the judge; or
(6) appear to a reasonable person to be coercive.
B. Avocational Activities. A judge is encouraged to speak, write, lecture, teach and participate in other extrajudicial activities concerning non-legal subjects, subject to the requirements of this Code.


FL ST CJC Canon 5

Just to be clear- Canon 6(B) appears to indicate that while Judge should teach, they should not teach law - which, considering the state of the judiciary, is probably a good idea in principle. 

13 comments:

  1. Rump, it was a private noche bueno party Xmas eve at the RenGenII. I hear they were turning down $500 at the door to get in. It was a traditional Cuban feast, with an Italian twist- a seafood buffet of shrimp, lobster, clams, oysters, all fresh and simple. Nothing fancy.

    But now as the year counts down to the end, it's $200/person two seatings a night, with a $1500/person new years blow out before Chef Juan Carlos heads to Austin and oversees his new foodie gastro pub empire.

    Scallop sashimi with Uni; Key West pink shrimp poppers, fried with peach flavored panko; Grilled grass-fed beef ribeyes with a California Cab reduction sauce and fresh shitake mushrooms; gluten free ravioli stuffed with home made ricotta cheese served with an Hawaiian Black-Cherry sauce; and of course one fresh roasted pig with chicaroones.

    Good luck getting in.

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  2. Most judges don't tweet because 1) they lack imagination 2) they can't really spell or use correct grammar

    Just sayin...

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  3. Here-come-da-judge tweeted

    "whew..long day in court...lawyers late...defendants upset...Pds clueless...prosecutor's cranky.I need a drinky"

    (note the grammatical error)

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  4. If you want to get into RenGenII new years eve- call the man the myth the legend- the shumster. He da man

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  5. How silly. Plenty of State and Federal Judges teach Advocacy at the local law schools. How can that violate any Judicial Canon? Do we not trust the judges to know the law, and pass on their knowledge?

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  6. This is not a joke. I repeat, this is not a joke. This is the Trumpster's tweet from 10:10 PM last night:

    "The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index for December surged nearly four points to 113.7, THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN 15 YEARS! Thanks Donald!"

    The man just tweeted and thanked himself at the end of the tweet. But the really entertaining part of this is reading the responses to his tweet. If you have Twitter you should read some of them. Hilarious.

    @realDonaldTrump dude you went bankrupt 4 times.

    @realDonaldTrump Did you just thank yourself?

    @realDonaldTrump the DOW is up 2000+ under Obama. You haven't actually done anything other that tweet with your tiny little fingers.

    @realDonaldTrump And talking in third person is in no way a narcissistic trait.

    @realDonaldTrump Don't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back. Dick.

    And my personal favorite:

    @realDonaldTrump Uh, is talking to yourself an impeachable offense?

    Cap Out ...

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  7. Tiny Hands Twitter Trump is an asshole.
    It is an embarrassment that he is the PEOTUS.

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  8. Rump who gets the honor of calling the last Shumie Time of 2016? And when? Noon Friday (last occurred 2011) ? 11:59 on 12/31 (the traditional last Shumie of the year?) Or will someone sneak in a ST today and have that be the last?

    Anxious to know.

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  9. Hey capn. He never went bankrupt; business decision on his companies part. Probly good ones since he's a billionaire. And the market is up thanks to him coming in and Barry with his horrible policies going out

    Thanks Donald. Looking forward to you making America great again while the liberals look for safe spaces to car, hold hands and have lollipops

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  10. 7:26:00 - how right you are.

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  11. Capn. You are a joke. Trump's gloriousness increased consumer confidence to unprecedented levels; good for all Americans. Even safe space seeking SJW's. I'm sure you have helped a few hundred clients. Don Trump is saving a nation.

    Just thank him and move on to your next reckless driving ticket. He's got it from here.
    MAGA

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  12. Captain you dumb ass! He was mimicking the current poor excuse for a president who often, when speaking about Obamacare or some other crappy thing he's done that he thinks is great, says "thanks Obama". You're so intellectually dishonest.

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