Technology has entered the jury box. While the press has long reported on pending trials, bloggers — or so-called “citizen journalists,” some sitting in juries — have increasingly posted commentary about judicial proceedings. Yet recent events suggest that blog posts and other electronic communications by jurors about ongoing trials can potentially disrupt the integrity of the proceedings.
Indeed, several months ago, defense lawyers in a federal political corruption trial in Pennsylvania announced plans to appeal a guilty verdict based, in part, on the fact that a juror posted remarks about the trial and the jury’s deliberations to Facebook and Twitter.
