Will Twitter Threaten Jury Trials?

Some how, I don't think so.


Lord Justice Judge has been in the news recently after raising concerns that in the age of Twitter, the jury system as we know it is coming under threat. He highlights a couple of concerns.


He is worried about the potential of jurors tweeting in the court room and sharing details which should not be shared outside of the court. Personally, on this level, I don't see why Twitter should suddenly raise concern about sharing of information. Is it not much more likely that jurors will share information with their families and potentially their friends than on Twitter? Personally I think it's much more likely that a juror will return home and share some juicy details with his wife than make a tweet about it.


The potential for jurors to discuss the trial outside of the court room isn't any more likely now than it was without Twitter. Twitter is merely another medium, it doesn't as far as I can see raise the pre-disposition of a juror to spill-the-beans. 


In any event, it's much easier to monitor Twitter-Talk than it is Pillow-Talk. Running a simple search of key phrases and party names could flag up any offending Tweets. Further, a system could be implemented whereby jurors are under an obligation to declare any Twitter account they are associated with to the court. This account could then be monitored for any forbidden activity. 


Much easier, and much less illegal than bugging somebody's bedroom...


-- AP