Skip to main content

You don't make friends with... Judges.

A recent case in Florida has shown the dangers of who you make friends with on Facebook, or at least who you ask to be your friend.

In a dissolution of marriage case, the wife successfully sought to disqualify the trial judge. All because the trial judge sent through a friend request on Facebook.

The Law Blog from The Wall Street Journal summarises the case quite well. Essentially, the trial judge sent through a friend request to the wife in the case. Upon advice of counsel, she decided not to respond to the request. The trial judge then entered a judgment that appeared to weigh heavily in the favour of the husband. The wife then sought to disqualify the trial judge based on allegations that the trial judge retaliated against her for not accepting the friend request.

When considering the application to disqualify the trial judge, Justice Cohen said:

The “friend” request placed the litigant between the proverbial rock and a hard place: either engage in improper ex parte communications with the judge presiding over the case or risk offending the judge by not accepting the “friend” request.

The Court disqualified the trial judge as they found the facts to be of a kind "that would create in a reasonably prudent person a well-founded fear of not receiving a fair and impartial trial".

While I'm sure for the majority of interactions with judges on social media, it would be perfectly reasonable to be "friends". But when a judge requests that a party to an active case that they are presiding over become "friends" - well, that seems perfectly understandable that the judge was disqualified.

He continued,  discussing the nature of Facebook "friends":

The word “friend” on Facebook is a term of art. A number of words or phrases could more aptly describe the concept, including acquaintance and, sometimes, virtual stranger. A Facebook friendship does not necessarily signify the existence of a close relationship.

ALLA(WA) Committee Member - Alice Hewitt. 
Librarian, Reference and Information Services, Murdoch University.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Keeping Up With ALLA (WA) News

In March 2023 we announced the  closure of the Allgwa list , and welcomed the arrival of the  ALLA (WA) Google Group .  To take full advantage of the Google Group - particularly the ability to deliver news directly to your inbox - the ALLA (WA) Committee has made the decision to cease posting to the ALLA (WA) Blog.  ALLA (WA) Members are encouraged to join the Google Group to make sure they don’t miss out on key news, events, job opportunities from the committee and our members.  Over the past twelve and a half years we've have over 208636 visitors (and still counting) to the ALLA (WA) Blog, from all over the world. We thank all of our readers who have supported the blog. We especially thank all of our blog editors and contributors who have volunteered their time, skill and knowledge to develop this resource. The ALLA (WA) Blog will continue to be available in an archive format. We look forward to using the ALLA (WA) Google Group to share information, foster collegiali

ALLA National Board - Nominations Open

ALLA members would have received an email from Emma Joneshart, President of ALLA Ltd regarding a call for nominations for members to join the ALLA Ltd Board of Directors. Nominations will be voted upon at the ALLA AGM, held on Thursday 23 September during the ALLA Virtual Conference 2021 . The ALLA Ltd Board of Directors is an important part of the Australian Law Librarians' Association's governance. Made up of at least eight members of ALLA, nominations are open for the following positions:  Vice President Secretary Treasurer Vendor Relations CPD Coordinator General Directors The Vice President position is for a term of 3 years, consisting of a year each as Vice President, President and Past President. The other positions are for a 2-year term, allowing for a sufficient time period to become familiar with the role and have meaningful impact on ALLA projects.  Each role is varied, with support from other members of the Board, and in addition to monthly meetings (mainly via tel

Job Opportunities : Seeking a Shelf Change 2023 (5)

Senior Librarian Squire Patton Boggs has advertised for a part-time  (0.8 FTE) role of Senior Librarian in their Perth office. Details can be found on the Squire Patton Boggs website .  As an aside, we wish Kelly the best in her new endeavours and thank her for all her contributions to ALLA (WA) over the years.  Library Officer Corrective Serives, Department of Justice have advertised for a full-time Library Officer role located at Hakea Prison. Details can be found on the Jobs WA website . Applications close 24 April 2023. Library Assistant The Parliamentary Library, Department of Library Services has advertised for a full-time Library Assistant located in Canberra. Details can be found on the APS Jobs website . Applications close 17 April 2023. Archival Officer The National Archives of Australia are advertising for a full-time Archival Officer based in Perth. Details can be found on the  APS Jobs website . Applications close 16 April 2023. Still Open Positions Previously Published on