Federal Judge Rules Wichita Eagle can Twitter in Court

"Twitter moves to federal court"
Citizen Law Project (March 2, 2009)

"The fights over whether blogging ought to be allowed during trials -- and whether it's good journalism -- aren't even over, and a new front has opened in the war over technology and its proper role in coverage of the justice system.

"Last week, a federal district judge granted permission to a reporter from the Wichita Eagle to report on a trial using Twitter, the mini social network that allows users to shout out their whereabouts -- and anything else they can fit in a 140-character post -- quickly and easily.

"The judge's OK -- he told defense attorneys, 'Twitter is on' -- prompted news coverage from the AP and elsewhere, but it may strike some reporters and legal observers as less of an OMG moment, and closer to something like, 'yeah, so?'..."

Rather well-written and researched article about information technology and (American) federal courts.

I know that there are good arguments for keeping trials confidential, closed, quiet affairs. And, for letting people know what's actually going on.

I'm not sure how long this 'go' on Twitter will last. Considering the sort of natural fertilizer that comes spurting out of America's courts from time to time, I think that federal judges may decide that they don't want people getting too good a look at their domain, after all.

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Thanks to bnsullivan on Twitter, for the heads-up on this article.