Judge Explains His Tech Savvy Ways

Feride Yalav

ABA’s Journal’s Debra Cassens Weiss wrote a blog about Judge Mark Bennett of Sioux City, Iowa who explains why he allowed a reporter to write a live blog during one of his federal criminal trials.

According to the blog, Bennett always prided himself on being up to date with technology. While practicing as a lawyer in a small law firm, he paid a large sum of money to be the first to have desktop computers in the office. Apart from this he was probably the first federal judge to ever have an e-mail address and he continues to read blogs on a daily basis.

Thus, with such a background, when Bennett received an e-mail from a reporter asking permission to use her computer during a tax fraud trial to post live courtroom updates online, he agreed. The reporter, Trish Mehaffey, was advised to sit in the back of the room so that her typing would not disturb the proceedings.

“I thought the public’s right to know what goes on in federal court and the transparency that would be given the proceedings by live-blogging outweighed any potential prejudice to the defendant,” Bennett said to the ABA Journal. 

Mehaffey used a website called Twitter, a blog site based entirely on short status updates, which enabled readers to comment to the updates and for Mehaffey to answer their questions.

“Times are changing, and it’s all about the digital industry…It’s a way for us to meet the demands of our readers,” Mehaffey said to the ABA Journal. 

• Is Mehaffey’s argument about the demands of the digital industry enough to account for a person’s right to a fair trial?