(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project)
At the start of a trial, the judge usually reads to jurors general instructions about how the trial will proceed. The instructions also tell jurors how they should behave during the trial, including the admonition that they should not discuss the case with others, including both trial participants and outsiders.
But in recent years, several courts have had to deal with jurors using social media -- such as blogs and text messaging -- during trials. Although this has arisen in a surprising number of cases, so far it appears that no court has overturned a jury verdict or ordered a new trial because of such activity.
May 22, 2009
May 6, 2009
Lesson of "Communist" Libel Cases in Vietnamese Community: Know Your Audience
(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project)
In the United States after the Cold War, saying that someone is a Communist may not have the same sting that it did during the the decades of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and their respective allies.
But within the past three years, courts in California, Minnesota and Washington have held that calling someone a Communist can be the basis of a valid libel claim when the audience is the Vietnamese-American community, which consists mostly of refugees who fled the Communist regime in their native land after the Vietnam War.
In the United States after the Cold War, saying that someone is a Communist may not have the same sting that it did during the the decades of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and their respective allies.
But within the past three years, courts in California, Minnesota and Washington have held that calling someone a Communist can be the basis of a valid libel claim when the audience is the Vietnamese-American community, which consists mostly of refugees who fled the Communist regime in their native land after the Vietnam War.
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