Jurors' Use of Social Media During Trials and Deliberations. A Report to the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management

摘要

At the request of the Committee on Court Administration and Case Management (CACM), the Federal Judicial Center conducted a survey of district courts to assess the frequency with which jurors use social media to communicate during trials and deliberations, and to identify effective strategies for curbing this behavior. The results, based on the responses of 508 responding judges, indicate that detected social media use by jurors is infrequent, and that most judges have taken steps to ensure jurors do not use social media in the courtroom. The most common strategy is incorporating social media use into jury instructionseither the model jury instructions provided by CACM or judges own personal jury instructions. Also common are the practice of reminding jurors on a regular basis not to use social media to communicate during trial or deliberations, explaining the reasons behind the ban on social media, and confiscating electronic devices in the courtroom. Judges admit that it is difficult to police jurors. Only 30 judges reported instances of detected social media use by jurors during trials or deliberations.