Journal Article on de Tocqueville's Likely Take on Tweeting Jurors

http://issuu.com/njcmag/docs/rlj-vol2-iss3-fall-winter_folder-electronic-spread

Federal Judge Rescinds Order for Seizure of Juror's Computers

A juror in a federal criminal trial was quoted in the newspaper as having conducted Internet research during the trial in violation of the judge's instructions.  The defendant was sentenced to a 10-year prison term.  The judge ordered that US marshals seize her computers but has rescinded that order and has ordered her to appear in court with her computers or hard drives.
Here is an article about it:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1269464.ece

Should Judges Allow Lawyers to Be Facebook Friends?

From my brief research only a few states have specifically addressed this issue through their lawyers ethics boards.  In my opinion, no, they should not as it gives the appearance of impropriety under the judicial ethics canons.  Here is a link to an article on this issue from Florida:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/state-high-court-asked-to-decide-whether-judges-la/nTyhj/

For judges who host blogs, such as this one, it is possible to block the names of "followers" so the judge does not know who they are.

Here is another article with a photo of our most famous "jurist":

http://abovethelaw.com/2011/12/if-you-are-a-judge-do-your-facebook-friends-matter/

Should Professionals Be Excused From Jury Duty?

Nationwide there is a problem of getting summoned jurors to show up at court for day one of a jury trial.  One of my colleagues recently had 10 jurors fail to appear for day one a civil trial.  We judges also receive many requests to be excused from jury duty.  Many jurors can have their jury duty deferred to a more-convenient time, such as winter for construction workers and summers for teachers.  But I am frankly angered by the letter requests which basically say this, reading between the lines:

Dear Judge: 
Please excuse me from jury duty.  I have a professional job (business, etc) with many (clients, patients, students, etc.) which require my attention and they will not understand that I am unavailable due to jury duty.  This makes me more important than the average citizen, so please excuse me.  Perhaps some unemployed people or retired folks can serve in my place.
Sincerely,
Very Important Citizen

Jury duty is just that, the DUTY of every citizen in our democratic republic.  Millions have died to protect our freedoms, including the right to have a jury trial AND to sit as a juror if called to serve.  Tens of thousands have served in Afghanistan, have died or suffered great emotional and physical harm to protect these freedoms.  It is an honor to serve on a jury, not an inconvenience.