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.