By Russell Smith

The Associated Press is reporting that a Michigan court ordered 20-year-old juror Hadley Jons to pay $250 and write a five-page essay on the Sixth Amendment for updating her Facebook friends on her thoughts about a trial before it was over.

The defense attorney’s 17-year-old son was checking out Ms. Jons’s Facebook page when he discovered this post: “actually excited for jury duty tomorrow. It’s gonna be fun to tell the defendant they’re GUILTY.  : P.”

Judge Diane Druzinski did not “like” the post. The Macomb Circuit Court’s rules of conduct for jurors makes it clear that jurors are “not to discuss the case with your family, friends, acquaintances” during the trial. Accordingly, Judge Druzinski removed Ms. Jons from the jury and leveled civil penalties for contempt of court..

Even though Ms. Jons did not get to revel in the “fun” of handing down a guilty verdict, the rest of the jurors did. The day after Ms. Jons’s removal, the jury found the defendant guilty of felony resisting arrest. Although the media didn’t discuss it, this raised the question in the minds of our reporters whether Ms. Jons may have discussed the verdict with other jurors before the end of trial. If she did, Judge Druzinski may owe the defendant a new trial. Read more »

By Jillian Raines

Political buttons, hats, jeans and shirts referencing female genitalia have all previously been contested when worn in U.S. courtrooms. In New York, a recent incident added another item to the “What Not To Wear” list: T-shirts with the F word.

According to a New York Post article, a 19-year-old female alternate juror was excused from duty when the judge noticed she was wearing a shirt that read “Who the f*** is Kanye West?”

The Post reported that the young woman, Nneka Eneorj, claimed it was “supposed to be a First Amendment issue” which provided her the right to wear anything she wanted in court. But since she did not press the matter further (read: She was content being released from jury duty), it seems that neither did The Post reporter.

This, of course, leaves the reader wondering: Were Miss. Eneorj’s First Amendment protections actually violated when she was ejected from the courtroom?

We all know you can’t falsely shout “Fire” in a crowded theater, so there are instances in which expression can be curtailed.  But when?  And why?

Some background is in order. Read more »