Cameron County DA will check Facebook profiles for jury picks

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The district attorney's office plans to use prospective jurors' Facebook profiles and postings when considering whether an individual is qualified to sit on a jury.

Another reason why I think people should abandon FB all together.

But what do yall think of this?

I have been on jury duty before. It was a very interesting case, and I loved the opportunity. Before I was chosen, I was asked a ton of questions, including person ones. Did they do a background check on me (the old way) before I was allowed to sit on the jury? I do not know.

The district attorney's office plans to use prospective jurors' Facebook profiles and postings when considering whether an individual is qualified to sit on a jury.

"People tend to post more freely on Facebook then they might face to face," Villalobos said. "As a DA (district attorney) I would be all for it because the more information I have, the better off we are going to be in getting a fair jury and getting the convictions and acquittals the system needs to function."

This is very true. My own mother posts WAY TOO much information. Even though it is set to private, can you really trust all those "friends" with your personal information? I would not.

Is this an invasion of one's privacy? Or do you forgo all privacy when you chose to put your life out on center stage by using Facebook?

They're in you're face about data mining. Jury selection. That's just plain funny and ludicrous at the same time.

Facebook - CIA Profile Database

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reply to post by greeneyedleo

Is this an invasion of one's privacy? Or do you forgo all privacy when you chose to put your life out on center stage by using Facebook?

I think one gives up most all privacy when using Facebook.

It would be interesting to see how this develops with the District Attorney's office and with Defense Attorneys...will they resort to sending messages to one's FB friends--to gain more information on you--that they may be able to "see" despite one's privacy settings?

And would that be considered a breach of privacy if they go to those lengths? I see some potentials for abuse if they resort to the methods of contacting your friends to find out more about you....

But, if they just stick to what you have up on FB with privacy settings in place, I think one is fair game!

What's the problem?

When you get called in for jury selection. Tell them you can spot a guilty person just by looking at him.

Look at guy on trial and say, "Oh yeah he did it. sheesh. your guilty as hell"

Same thing happened in my county with respect to posts on local newspaper stories about court cases. As you probably know, any time there is an accused child molester, a murder, or some other crime the locals weigh in on the published stories wishing death upon the perpetrator, passing verdicts of guilt or innocence, etc. Then some get called for jury duty. So both defense and prosecution are adding "Do you blog? type questions to their surveys and finally getting hip to the fact that jurors have online personalities that may reflect whether they can remain impartial during a trial.

Seems fair to me. If you've expressed your opinion that John Doe is a despicable individual that ought to be put before a firing squad, I think that pretty well rules you out as a juror for his trial. Since you won't tell the defense what you really think of him it's perfectly proper for the defense to ferret out your true attitude. If you've been public about your sentiments, that's all the defense (or prosecution) needs to boot you off the jury.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


I have my fb set to the highest privacy settings and really only use it to communicate with family...

But I'm getting sick of having to go in and reset the privacy every time they change fb.

I'm ready to delete the darn thing.

First, how ridiculous that the DA is paying someone our tax dollars to surf Facebook. Ludicrous!

Easy to prevent, btw. Before you show up, delete the posts that might be suspect and then simply deactivate the account. I have mine set so if someone searches for me, my page doesnt show up either.

What is the point of Facebooking jurors anyway? It makes no sense.

Never have nor ever will use farcebook.. Though might be fun to start a page just to mess with them - post a pic of a guy in executioners hood sharpening an axe with the caption available for jury duty...

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Well I guess that means a "libertarian" like me will never have to worry about jury duty again. I'll be quickly rejected - and if it were done via "pre-screening" they wouldn't even have to call me in the first place.

BTW, while we're on the topic, its in our constitution jury duty is a RESPONSIBILTITY to VOTE YOUR CONCIENCE! Seeeeeee...

Fully Informed Jury Association