Nicole Black, The Daily Record Newswire
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: social media can be a useful tool for lawyers, but it must be used wisely. Like any type of technology, it’s important to gain a thorough understanding of how it works prior to using it. The footprint left by the Internet is a permanent one, so it’s important to think before you act.
The failure to do so could result in your leaving a hastily written but not well thought out comment as part of your online legacy, leading to embarrassment at the very least and censure or disbarment at the worst. This is a lesson that a few prosecutors recently learned the hard way.
First, there’s Ken Lewis, a Florida prosecutor for Orange-Osceola county who faced online — and offline — wrath in May when he posted one of many questionable statements to his personal Facebook page. The statement that made national news was made on May 11, Mother’s Day. He addressed “all the crack hoes out there” and advised them that “(i)t’s never too late to turn it around, tie your tubes, clean up your life and make difference to someone out there that deserves a better mother.”
Not surprisingly, this declaration struck a chord and many found it to be offensive. He was ordered to undergo sensitivity training and an investigation into his actions was launched by the Ninth Judicial District to ascertain whether his comments reflected bias or prejudice in the handling of his cases.
In July, Linda Drane Burdick, chief assistant state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, completed the investigation and concluded that his statements did not impact his handling of cases. Even so, Ken Lewis is now well aware of the reach and finality of statements made online.
In another case, two prosecutors in Minnesota weren’t so lucky. In August, two Clay County prosecutors made statements on a personal Facebook page following a jury trial where a man was acquitted of sexual misconduct. After the verdict was announced, one prosecutor, Pam Harris, posted to her personal Facebook page that the jury consisted of “12 idiots.” Another prosecutor with whom she worked, Jenny Samarzja, responded to her statement, adding this comment to her Facebook post: “Wake up people.”
A courthouse employee saw the statements and reported them to Clay County Attorney Brian Melton. An internal investigation was launched and the attorneys were disciplined in the form of written reprimands. Melton issued a public apology to the jurors and the residents of their county, emphasizing that the jurors had worked diligently to provide a just verdict and that the comments made were inexcusable.
Both incidents of prosecutorial missteps on Facebook were covered by many media outlets across the country, both online and off. As a result, the prosecutors in question escaped with their jobs and their law licenses intact, but the same cannot be said of their professional reputations.
So consider this a lesson learned. Don’t be afraid to use social media. It can be incredibly useful for professional networking purposes. But at the same time, think before you act and choose your words wisely. Social media is a powerful tool that acts as a megaphone, amplifying your reach. But make sure that the information shared reflects well one you. Because the Internet is forever.
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Nicole Black is a director at MyCase.com, a cloud-based law practice management platform. She is also of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester and is a GigaOM Pro analyst. She is the author of the ABA book “Cloud Computing for Lawyers,” coauthors the ABA book “Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier,” and co-authors “Criminal Law in New York,” a West-Thomson treatise. She speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes three legal blogs and can be reached at niki@mycase.com.
