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Full-Text Articles in Internet Law
Jury 2.0, Caren Morrison
Jury 2.0, Caren Morrison
Caren Myers Morrison
When the Framers drafted the Sixth Amendment and provided that the accused in a criminal case would have the right to a speedy and public trial by an “impartial jury,” it is unlikely that they imagined the members of that impartial jury becoming Facebook friends during deliberations, or Googling the defendant’s name during trial. But in the past few years, such cases have increasingly been making headlines. The impact of the Internet on the functioning of the jury has generated a lot of press, but has not yet attracted scholarly attention. This article seeks to focus legal discourse on this …
Investigating Jurors On Social Media, Caren Myers Morrison
Investigating Jurors On Social Media, Caren Myers Morrison
Caren Myers Morrison
This essay proceeds in three parts. First, it examines the current state of jury investigations, and how they differ from those conducted in the past. Then, it describes the evolving legal and ethical positions that are combining to encourage such investigations. Finally, it offers a note of caution–condoning such investigations while keeping them hidden from jurors may be perceived as unfair and exploitative, risking a possible backlash from outraged jurors. Instead, I propose a modest measure to provide notice and explanation to jurors that their online information is likely to be searched, and why.
Privacy, Accountability, And The Cooperating Defendant: Towards A New Role For Internet Access To Court Records, Caren Morrison
Privacy, Accountability, And The Cooperating Defendant: Towards A New Role For Internet Access To Court Records, Caren Morrison
Caren Myers Morrison
Now that federal court records are available online, anyone can obtain criminal case files instantly over the Internet. But this unfettered flow of information is in fundamental tension with many goals of the criminal justice system, including the integrity of criminal investigations, the accountability of prosecutors and the security of witnesses. It has also altered the behavior of prosecutors intent on protecting the identity of cooperating defendants who assist them in investigating other targets. As prosecutors and courts collaborate to obscure the process by which cooperators are recruited and rewarded, Internet availability, instead of enabling greater public understanding, risks degrading …
Passwords, Profiles, And The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: Facebook And The Fifth Amendment, Caren Morrison
Passwords, Profiles, And The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: Facebook And The Fifth Amendment, Caren Morrison
Caren Myers Morrison
While Facebook has become ubiquitous in most people’s lives, it is also making increasingly frequent appearances in criminal cases. In the past few years, Facebook has emerged as a fertile source of incriminating information from boastful or careless defendants who find in Facebook a great way to project their outlaw persona to the world. But does the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination shield someone who has posted incriminating information on his Facebook page from being forced to disclose his password or provide access to his profile? While in most cases, Facebook information is public, in rare situations, a law enforcement …