Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> The Justice Gambit

Criminal Law

: The Justice Gambit

For Judges on Facebook, Friendship Has Limits

By Michael Blankenship

In a recent opinion, the state?s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges ?friend? lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it ?reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer ?friends? are in a special position to influence the judge.? Read more... A very curious phrase was used in this policy decision - "the committee?s majority concluded that the possibility of the appearance of impropriety required that they recommend against friending." Many people have the perception that the legal process is like that portrayed on television -  Perry Mason, Law & Order, etc. - in other words, an adversarial process...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Justice Gambit on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).