Florida judges who use Facebook or similar social networking sites may want to consider re-examining their online friends.

The Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Sept. 5 held that a judge had to disqualify himself from a trial in which he was a Facebook friend of the assigned prosecutor (Domville v. Florida, Fla. Dist. Ct. App., No. 4D12-556, 9/5/12).

The court cited favorably a November 2009 opinion from the state's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee that advised judges not to "friend" on social networking websites those attorneys appearing before their court. The ethics committee's rationale was that such an act violated Florida Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 2B by implying that a friended attorney is "in a special position to influence the judge."

"Judges must be vigilant in monitoring their public conduct so as to avoid situations that will compromise the appearance of impartiality," the court said. It added that the rule may limit personal freedom, but judges frequently are called upon to accept "freely and willingly" restrictions that "might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen."

Cynthia Gray, director of the American Judicature Society's Center for Judicial Ethics, recently told BNA that state ethics boards in Massachusetts and Oklahoma joined Florida's strict rule. In contrast, Gray explained, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina ethical boards said that social networking friendships between judges and attorneys that have real world social relationships were permissible.

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