From The National Judicial College
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mong the many changes that now impact the courts are myriad websites such as Google, Google Maps, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and the sprawling array of supporting smart phone devices, from the Droid, to iPhones, Blackberrys, and Blueberries that facilitate these activities. For a longtime judge like me, all this techno-change is a new courtroom management challenge to be evaluated and addressed. Thankfully, you don’t have to navigate these tumultuous waters alone. There are folks who have encountered these challenges and are developing best-practice (not perfect practice, mind you) solutions on what to do with the Googling or Tweeting juror who pushes information out from the place of deliberation. There are developing solutions for some of these questions, but frankly, the trial court response to these issues is all over the map. This is why a dialogue on these issues is so important, providing a platform to share solutions that allow the courts to provide the most fair, comprehensive, and consistent justice possible. The Reynolds National Center for Courts & Media is a forum for a national dialogue on these issues: an open and honest discussion about inconsistent responses to the social media issues faced by the courts, including juror misconduct. The goal is not to tell judges what to do, but rather to share how their colleagues have handled similar problems. We encourage you to contribute your thoughts, experiences, or practices to the dialogue, and collaboratively develop best practices in addressing these issues. William Dressel
From The Reynolds School of Journalism
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his edition of the Reynolds Courts & Media Law Journal is the first during my just-beginning tenure as dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism, and it’s fitting that I should share this page with National Judicial College President Bill Dressel. Judge Dressel and I have worked together on issues regarding the Reynolds National Center for Courts and Media for the past eight years, through my prior roles as an employee or consultant of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the RNCCM’s founding funder. It’s been impressive to see the new directions the Center has taken over the past year or so, with special focus on research and scholarship, particularly concerning the impact of social media on the courts. As Editor Ben Holden discusses on the following page, the Center aspires to be part of a national dialogue on how today’s remarkable technological developments are changing the administration of American justice and how our society should respond. The Center’s focus on these issues already has been rewarded with praise (and, yes, some constructive criticism) from some of America’s top judges, journalists and lawyers. It’s worth noting that the Journal’s list of paid subscribers among America’s top law schools continues to grow. We price our product modestly to facilitate that growth in these difficult economic times. So if you haven’t already, we hope you’ll join us as a subscriber. Finally, I’ll leave you with an Edward R. Murrow quote that sums up the Center’s unique role on the public policy landscape: “What distinguishes a truly free society from all others is an independent judiciary and a free press.” That thought has been from the start, and will continue to be, at the core of the Reynolds Center’s work. William L. Winter
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Volume 1, Issue 3