8 posts and columns on Ashby Jones

Voices

Searching for Details Online, Lawyers Facebook the Jury

in News on February 22, 2011 at 4:30 am PT

Facebook is increasingly being used in courts to decide who is–and who isn’t–suitable to serve on a jury, the latest way in which the social-networking site is altering the U.S. court system.

Voices

Are "Sext" Messages a Teenage Felony or Folly?

in News on August 25, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

State lawmakers around the U.S. are struggling to decide if teenage “sexting”—the practice of sending nude or sexually suggestive photos by cellphone—is a serious crime, or juvenile folly run amok. About 20 states have enacted or proposed measures that deal with teenage sexters.

Voices

First Amendment Guru Floyd Abrams on the WikiLeaks Situation

in News on July 28, 2010 at 2:05 pm PT

On Monday morning, we did some looking into the legal issues surrounding WikiLeaks’ decision to unveil some 92,000 previously classified documents on the public, in connection with a handful of media outlets. The bottom line, some First Amendment experts informed us: the government certainly had the right to go after and punish the person within the military who leaked the information.

Voices

Abortion Foes Take to eBay to Raise Funds for Roeder's Defense

in News on October 26, 2009 at 11:20 am PT

Abortion opponents looking to help Scott Roeder, the Kansas City man charged with killing abortion doctor George Tiller, have organized an unusual auction: They plan to sell a trove of anti-abortion memorabilia on eBay.

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A Town, Its Teens, and a Practice Called ‘Sexting’

in News on April 21, 2009 at 9:21 am PT

Let’s talk about sexting. As we’ve mentioned before, sexting is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of ones self or others via cell phone. It’s one thing, we suppose, if adults do it, but what’s got parents, students, school administrators, the ACLU and district attorneys riled up is that minors are getting into the act as well.

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Barring 11th-Hour Reprieve, Nacchio to Report to Prison Tuesday

in News on April 14, 2009 at 11:56 am PT

When we last used our waterfall metaphor in regard to Joe Nacchio, the former Qwest CEO convicted two years ago on insider-trading charges, an inquiring reader asked if we’d bring Nacchio back up the fall if and when the Supreme Court reversed his conviction. Our answer: absolutely.

Voices

MySpace a Bulletin Board, Not Private Room, Says California Court

in News on April 6, 2009 at 2:00 pm PT

How do social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace fit within the world of privacy law? Are such sites private rooms in which one can pen his or her internal thoughts without fear of others misappropriating such thoughts? Or are such sites really just bulletin boards for the world? An appellate court in California weighed in on the issue on Friday, and basically sided with the bulletin-board position.

Voices

Twelve Twittering Men?

in News on March 18, 2009 at 12:12 pm PT

We here at the Law Blog have been called for jury duty several times (in New York City, it feels like an annual event), but have never been picked to sit. It’s probably a good thing, because, despite our legal training and basic understanding of how trials work, we’d find it excruciating to not be able to use Google to do our own research on issues that arise in the case.