30 Apr Nice Tweet Your Honor…

Get ready for judges tweeting! According to the ABA Journal, an American Bar Association committee has approved allowing judges to participate in electronic social media or ESM. As a result, a judge can now get on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. This can be especially helpful for judges who need to be elected and re-elected. So what will they write about? Maybe some of the same things we all do – cute pictures of their kids or pets, thoughts about the latest pro basketball game or showing support when difficulties or tragedy strike.

But the ABA warned judges that it’s too easy to fall into the Anthony Weiner trap of using ESM inappropriately. They reminded them of their obligation to act in a way that ‘promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,’ and to ‘avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.’ So presumably political comments or thoughts about issues they may have to rule on would be verboten. But could they comment, say, on their view of interpreting the Constitution? US Supreme Court justices write and speak about their views generally. It will be interesting to see what judges tweet.

The ABA also expressed concern about the extent to which ESM posts are publicly available. They reminded judges to assume that a post on ESM should not be expected to remain only with their “friends” or selected contacts on a social media site. So it appears judges are being asked to assume that anything they write on Facebook or Twitter, even if meant to be for a limited audience, will get out for all to see. Remember Weiner thought he was sending a private message on Twitter when an embarrassing photo was accidentally tweeted to all.

Welcome to the fun world of ESM judges! Just remember: think before you tweet!