• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • My Social Media
  • About
    • About Mark Draughn
    • Testimonials
    • Other Authors
      • About Gary Olson
      • About Ken Gibson
      • About Joel Rosenberg
    • Disclosures
    • Terms and Conditions

Windypundit

Classical liberalism, criminal laws, the war on drugs, economics, free speech, technology, photography, sex work, cats, and whatever else comes to mind.

The ABA On Blogging Jurors

October 6, 2006 By Mark Draughn 1 Comment

The American Bar Association’s eReport for this week has an article about blogging jurors. After a conviction, a New Hampshire juror was found to have blogged some opinions before the trial that might have revealed a pro-prosecution bias. However, the state’s Supreme Court did not throw out the guilty verdict.

“It’s very hard, once there’s a verdict, to go back and show juror misconduct,” says Richard Guerriero, the New Hampshire Public Defender litigation director. “The defense has to show actual prejudice.”

The article links to my own recent posts about my stint on a criminal jury. The reporter, Molly McDonough, called me earlier in the week to confirm that there was a real human behind the blog before she linked to me.

We talked a bit about how lawyers and reporters are both interested in learning more about what goes on during deliberations. She told me that in Illinois the lawyers are sometimes allowed to talk to the jury in the court immediately after a trial—this had happened on the civil case I sat for a few years ago—but that they are not allowed to contact jurors after they leave.

That’s good to know. One of the reasons I used fake names in the jury duty posts is that I’d rather the lawyers on the losing side didn’t find them and start arguing with me. You wouldn’t think they’d bother, but after the civil case I got stuck riding the courthouse elevator with the losing plaintiff and his lawyer, and the latter made several pointed comments.

Now that I think about it, the lawyer made those comments to his client, but made sure that I could hear them too. Sneaky. Also pointless, since the case was over. He was just trying to make me feel guilty. I didn’t want a bloggy repeat of that.

Ms. McDonough asked me if I thought what I write in my blog should come into play in any future jury selection. I said I don’t have dog in that fight. Whether a lawyer strikes me or not is up to him. I wouldn’t take it personally.

She asked if I’d be surprised if I got questioned about stuff in my blog, and I told her that on a big enough case it wouldn’t surprise me at all if lawyers Googled my name and asked me about stuff they found. When I decided to start blogging, I knew all sorts of people would be able to know a lot more about me.

Related

Share This Post

Filed Under: Legal

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Libby says

    October 9, 2006 at 1:45 pm

    I loved that series of posts. I’m surprised they found you though. Most of the lawyers I know aren’t that computer savvy.

    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Posts

  • Yes, It’s a Bribe
  • Talking to my fellow libertarians about DOGE
  • Late night thoughts on the current crisis
  • Joining The Cult
  • Trump’s dumb attempt to define sex
  • Some advice for my transgender readers in the new year
  • Decoding Economics: Happiness and Taste
  • Decoding Economics: The Real Economy

Where else to find me

  • Twitter
  • Post
  • Mastodon

Follow

  • Twitter
  • Mastodon

Bloggy Goodness

  • Agitator
  • DrugWar Rant
  • Duly Noted
  • Dynamist
  • Hit & Run
  • Honest Courtesan
  • Nobody's Business
  • Popehat
  • Ravings of a Feral Genius

Blawgs

  • a Public Defender
  • appellatesquawk
  • Blonde Justice
  • Chasing Truth. Catching Hell.
  • Crime & Federalism
  • Crime and Consequences Blog
  • Criminal Defense
  • CrimLaw
  • D.A. Confidential
  • Defending Dandelions
  • Defending People
  • DUI Blog
  • ECIL Crime
  • Gamso For the Defense
  • Graham Lawyer Blog
  • Hercules and the Umpire
  • Indefensible
  • Koehler Law Blog
  • Legal Satyricon
  • New York Personal Injury Law Blog
  • Norm Pattis
  • not for the monosyllabic
  • Not Guilty
  • Probable Cause
  • Seeking Justice
  • Simple Justice
  • Tempe Criminal Defense
  • The Clements Firm
  • The Trial Warrior Blog
  • The Volokh Conspiracy
  • Underdog Blog
  • Unwashed Advocate
  • West Virginia Criminal Law Blog

Bloggers

  • Booker Rising
  • Eric Zorn
  • ExCop-LawStudent
  • InstaPundit
  • Last One Speaks
  • Leslie's Omnibus
  • Marathon Pundit
  • Miss Manners
  • Preaching to the Choir
  • Roger Ebert's Journal
  • Speakeasy Blog
  • SWOP Chicago

Geek Stuff

  • Charlie's Diary
  • Google Blogoscoped
  • Schneier on Security
  • The Altruist
  • The Ancient Gaming Noob
  • The Daily WTF
  • xkcd

Resources

  • CIA World Factbook
  • Current Impact Risks
  • EFF: Bloggers
  • Institute for Justice
  • Jennifer Abel
  • StrategyPage
  • W3 EDGE, Optimization Products for WordPress
  • W3 EDGE, Optimization Products for WordPress
  • W3 EDGE, Optimization Products for WordPress
  • Wikipedia
  • WolframAlpha

Gone But Not Forgotten

  • Peter McWilliams

Copyright © 2025 Mark Draughn · Magazine Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress

Go to mobile version