It’s tough for appellate courts to divine the legal ethics of social media, which changes constantly. Yet in a recent opinion, Dallas’ 5th Court of Appeals has started the discussion on what constitutes bias when a trial court judge uses Facebook and is “friends” with someone closely connected to a case he hears.

In a case of first impression, the 5th Court ruled that a trial judge’s pre-existing Facebook friendship with the father of a crime victim was not evidence of bias.