On Friday, August 31, 2012 the Utah Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee issued a far reaching and very forward thinking opinion regarding use of social media by Utah judges. The opinion joins the ranks of a growing number of state ethical advisory bodies which recognize that judges may ethically use social media without compromising their judicial roles. The Committee's opinion, in response to two separate requests from Third District Court Judge Andrew Stone and Court of Appeals Judge Michelle Christiansen, provides guidance to judges by answering 23 specific questions, including whether judges may be social network "friends" with lawyers (yes) candidates for elected office (yes) or elected officials (yes) and whether judges may "like" law firms, events or businesses (yes, yes & yes). The opinion also provides guidance in several areas not yet addressed by any other state, including whether a judge may use a pseudonym to post content (yes); whether a judge may use a photo of the judge in his/her robes as a profile picture (yes); whether a judge may "follow" a lawyer on Twitter (yes) and whether a judge, who is a member of LinkedIn, may recommend someone (yes) and must recuse him/herself if the recommended person appears before the judge (maybe). In answering the 23 questions posed, the Opinion noted that "it may have been simpler to answer most in the negative" which would have created a "bright line for judges to follow." However, the Opinion acknowledged the growing prevalence of social media in today's world as a communication tool and observed that judges "similar to other public settings, should be permitted to enter." The Opinion has not yet been posted on the Courts web site, but will soon be available at http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/ethadv/
Kudos to the Ethics Advisory Committee for its progressive view and approach and for providing clear guidance to our state judiciary.
this brings up a very old ethical question to light: as Shakespeare has said " one man in his time plays many parts." what Jaques tragically fails to leave out in this very well known speech is to what part is the man most loyal?
ReplyDeletemany people will claim to be a father first and a husband second, or a businessman first and a family man second.
my point being should a judge be a judge before they "friend" someone, or "like" something? or is a judge always a judge?
Good point. A judge certainly should put judging first, at least in his/her professional life. But, judges are people too and why shouldn't they enjoy the same technological benefits of everyone else, provided they can do so ehtically?
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