Friendship Has Its Risks

So a judge walks into a courtroom. (No, this isn't the beginning of a lawyer joke.) He's presiding over a hearing in a criminal matter, and the prosecutor makes a motion to add some charges to the case against the defendant. The judge becomes upset by the motion, and instead of ruling on it, continues the case. The prosecutor is surprised, because he thinks the adding of charges is a pretty routine matter. The prosecutor is even more surprised when he finds out that the judge and the defendant are Facebook "friends." Criticism follows.

Sound like a scenario that could happen in municipal-land? How about these hypotheticals?

• The Mayor "friends" a person who holds a liquor license from the City. The licensee becomes the subject of a "show cause" hearing before the Council/Liquor Licensing Authority to determine whether the liquor license should be revoked, after a serious of incidents at his bar that have enraged the surrounding neighborhood. Are the neighbors justified in doubting the Mayor's impartiality?

• A police officer "friends" an acquaintance that he knows only from a motorcyclists' charity organization. The acquaintance is later charged with drug trafficking, and a rumor surfaces that the case is weak because someone tipped off the defendant that he was about to be charged. Is the officer's supervisor justified in wondering if the officer might have been involved in tipping off the defendant?

• A supervisor is "friended" by an employee she supervises, and thinks nothing of it. Later, some disgruntled employees accuse the supervisor of playing "favorites," and point to her "friend" status with the one employee as an indication that some employees are favored at the expense of others. Are they justified reaching that conclusion?

In each of these hypotheticals, it is quite possible that the conclusions are unjustified. But you can see how the mere act of having someone on your "friend" list can get you wrongly smeared. So what's a person to do? Maybe the most obvious thing is to be cautious about "friending" people. This is especially important if you're an elected official involved in rendering quasi-judicial judgments, or you're involved in law enforcement or regulatory enforcement functions.

You can also make sure your "privacy" settings are set appropriately. It's amazing how many people's social networking lives are an "open book." Of course, we all know there's really no such thing as "privacy" online, so relying solely on one's "privacy" settings can be risky. But why make it so easy for the world to snoop into your personal business?

Maybe you could consider having more than one Facebook account. Or, if you're an elected official, perhaps you could set up a page as a "public figure" (under the category of "governmental official" or "politician") and bypass the "friending" thing altogether.

And, of course, if you're a supervisor, it may be best not to "friend" your employees, especially if you're singling out one or a few to "friend." You may be unintentionally creating an impression of favoritism.

If you have suggestions for this new and emerging area of legal risk, please submit them here or on my Facebook page (just kidding about the latter; I've convinced myself not to friend anyone ever again).

CIRSA Deputy Director Chris Krall and I recently did a webinar on social media risks and rewards. CIRSA members can view the webinar here.

Oh, and for my regular readers (both of you), sorry for the lapse in blogging! I had a series of events at home that sent me underwater for a while, but I'm gradually bobbing my way back up to the surface.