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Chief Justice Susan Denham presented the annual report of the Courts Service for 2016. Photograph: Dara Mac Dnaill

Procedures are needed so contempt of court laws can be used against those who disrupt court proceedings with social media, the Chief Justice Susan Denham has said.

Her comments come in the wake of an unprecedented social media campaign during the Jobstown trial, but also reflect a more general concern amongst the judiciary about social media, in particular as to how it can affect jurors.

To date, it has been rare that courts in Ireland have had to use contempt of court law to curb inaccurate and disruptive online communications about cases, Mrs Justice Denham said at the launch of the 2016 Annual Report of the Courts Service.

It would be naive of us not to plan for the future in this regard, she said. The fundamental right to a fair trial does not change in the face of any new means of communication. Rules can and must reflect the new reality.

She said she will this week send a draft discussion paper on guidelines on the use of social media in the courts to the presidents of all the courts, and ask the Courts Service to engage with the media and the legal professions on the matter.

There has been some discussion already about the possibility of banning certain devices from courtrooms unless they are being used by legal professionals or journalists, as well as how to prevent jurors being influenced by social media or online material.

One of the matters to be considered is who in the system would be responsible for trying to enforce any new rules.

Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan said he was most anxious that the area of civil and criminal contemptshould be reviewed.

The issue of social media use and court proceedings had arisen on a number of occasions in recent times and he was keen to see the topic reviewed.

Everyone is entitled to a free and fair trail, without outside interference, he said. He looked forward to ensuring that any recommendations that emerged from a review would be implemented.

Mrs Justice Denham, who is the chair of the Courts Service board, is to retire as Chief Justice soon and will have her last court appearance on Friday.

She said that in 2016 the Courts Service supported 24,588 court sittings involving 170 judges.

The courts deal with approximately 750,000 civil and criminal cases and other matters each year, with 516,000 of these being in the District Court where 60 per cent of cases relate to road traffic offences.

The 2016 report showed a 15 per cent increase in personal injury cases, despite the existence of a parallel non-court process for such claims, she said.

Strikingly there was a decrease of 32 per cent in new possession cases year on year, she said. Hopefully this is a sign that the effects of our great recession are fading, and that the alternative mechanisms for dealing with personal debt are successful for many.

There has been a 125 per cent increase over two years of applications under the debt resolution mechanisms of the Personal Insolvency Act. That such legal avenues to exit debt exist is to be welcomed, she said.

The number of trials heard in the Central Criminal Court have increased by 48 per cent over two years, ensuring that waiting times for murder and rape trials do not grow longer.

The final phase of the Fines (Payments and Recovery) Act 2014, which aims to reduce the number of people going to prison for the non-payment of fines, has commenced and enforcement notices were last week sent to more than 2,000 people who have failed to pay fines imposed by the courts. These people must now appear in court in September, but the Chief Justice pointed out that it is still possible to pay in full the fines at issue, right up to the court appearance date.

On social media, she said in order to protect the right to a fair trial, it will be necessary to introduce draft guidelines on the who, when and what of using social media in courtrooms.

Also, there has to be a discussion among those who work in and around courts about how such guidelines might work. And, thirdly, there was a need to look at legal reform to take cognisance of the new reality of instant communication.

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Rules needed to control social media use in courts, says Denham - Irish Times

The two sides, which have sued each other in separate claims, present entirely conflicting descriptions of who owns the company and what is being withheld from whom. The earliest chance for resolution appears to be a court hearing scheduled for next week.

Whether the squabbling will affect Snopess ability to produce its popular mythbusting remains to be seen, but the disputes are unlikely to be settled until there is legal clarity on the underlying structure of the company.

Proper Media considers itself an owner of Bardav, not a vendor. As Proper Media tells it, Barbara Mikkelson, Mr. Mikkelsons ex-wife, sold her 50 percent share to Proper Media in 2016, but for tax purposes it was bought in the name of its individual members for the benefit of Proper Media. Two Proper Media officers, Drew Schoentrup and Christopher Richmond, would get 20 percent stakes in Bardav, while three others would own 3.33 percent stakes.

Proper Media said the deal included Mr. Schoentrup taking a seat on a two-person board alongside Mr. Mikkelson.

But Mr. Mikkelson, who owns the other 50 percent of the Bardav shares, said that Mr. Schoentrup does not sit on the board, and that the five shareholders should be viewed individually, as opposed to collectively, giving Proper Media equal ownership.

Mr. Schoentrups on or off status on the board is crucial in Mr. Mikkelsons decision to cancel Bardavs contract with Proper Media, which handles many of the technological and advertising services for Snopes. In March, Bardav gave Proper Media a 60-day notice that it would be terminating the contract, effective May 8. Mr. Mikkelson said the contract was agreed to when Snopes was a much smaller company, but now it had its own business-focused employees and other services can be obtained much more cheaply from other vendors.

Karl Kronenberger, a lawyer for Proper Media, said in an interview on Monday that Mr. Mikkelson cannot cancel the contract without calling a board meeting which, in Proper Medias view, would include Mr. Schoentrup. The company has continued as if the contract remained valid.

Last week, a court ordered Proper Media, which cannot directly pay Snopes employees, to release $100,000 of the advertising revenues to Bardav, on the condition that the money be used for expenses and not be paid to Mr. Mikkelson, according to Mr. Kronenberger. Proper Media sued Mr. Mikkelson in May, accusing him of mismanaging the companys funds and abusing his position. (Mr. Mikkelson said he hadnt received money from the company this year aside from expenses and salary, which he said made him the lowest-paid employee at Snopes.)

Mr. Kronenberger said Mr. Mikkelson has locked Proper Media out of Bardavs bank accounts and key databases it needs to do its job, and he disputed that Proper Media had locked Bardav out from making technological changes.

Mr. Mikkelson has absolute control of this domain name, Mr. Kronenberger said. He can move it within minutes.

As for the advertising revenue, Our position is nothing is being wrongfully withheld, he said.

But on the crowdfunding page, Mr. Mikkelson wrote that although we maintain editorial control (for now), the vendor will not relinquish the sites hosting to our control, so we cannot modify the site, develop it, or most crucially place advertising on it.

Both sides hope a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 4 will begin to bring some clarity. Proper Media hopes the judge will remove Mr. Mikkelson from the company, while Bardav is hoping the judge requires Proper Media to hand over the rest of the advertising revenue, including some money from before the contract termination took effect.

For more than 20 years, Snopes has been a destination for batting down the urban legends and viral misinformation all too commonly found on the internet, first in email forwards and later in popular but misleading articles. At first run entirely by David and Barbara Mikkelson, it developed a reputation as an authority on declaring simply whether such tidbits could be believed.

In recent years, the site added staff as it took increasing aim at the routine falsities of the political process. In December, Facebook made Snopes a key part of its efforts to combat fake news, including it in a group of fact-checkers that would be alerted if enough users flagged an article as fake.

On Monday, Snopes used its website and social media accounts to promote its crowdfunding effort. It reached its $500,000 in about one day.

Were just trying to pick a number that were sure we can continue operations for, lets say, through possibly the end of the year, or at least the next several months while all this is happening, Mr. Mikkelson said.

A version of this article appears in print on July 25, 2017, on Page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Fact-Checking Website, in Heated Legal Battle, Asks Readers for Money to Survive.

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Snopes, in Heated Legal Battle, Asks Readers for Money to Survive - New York Times

Last month I tested the Logitech Slim Combo keyboard for the iPad Pro 10.5. While the keyboard is functional and useful for productivity, it's quite thick and the $150 price is tough to justify.

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For the last couple of weeks, I've been using the ZAGG Rugged Messenger for the iPad Pro 10.5. It is priced $50 less than the Logitech one ($99.99) and I prefer it for several reasons.

Slide your iPad Pro into the top case portion of the combo for protection around the edges and back of your iPad Pro. A mixture of hard plastic and a TPU frame protect the back and edges to a MIL-STD 810G rating of 6 feet. Obviously, dropping your iPad Pro on the display will likely cause it to crack, but side and edge drops may survive.

There are openings in the cover for the camera, flash, Lightning port, 3.5mm headset jack, and mics. Raised buttons for the power and volume are present too.

One of the best features of the ZAGG Rugged Messenger combo is the Apple Pencil holder found along the top (in landscape) or right (in portrait). I hate that there is no way to conveniently carry the Apple Pencil with your iPad and this feature alone may set the ZAGG Rugged Messenger apart enough to satisfy many customers.

The bottom piece is the keyboard and back cover that serves as the kickstand for your iPad Pro. It attaches via a very strong magnet in the spine and connects to your iPad via Bluetooth. A fully charged keyboard is rated to last for up to two years between charging.

There is a row of keys above the five typical keyboard rows that serve as the following shortcuts:

There are five rows of keys below this top line with a full number row, directional arrows, FN key, two CMD, Two Alt/Option, and two Shift keys. Use the FN and down arrow to toggle through three brightness levels. Use the FN and right arrow to toggle through seven keyboard backlight colors. The backlighting is more even and bright than what is present on the Logitech Slim Combo.

The keys are well spaced and have solid travel. The wrist support is long enough to be comfortable when used in a number of ways. The magnets are very strong to hold the keyboard to your iPad and also prop up your iPad.

The back piece of the keyboard has three seams in it and folds then slides up and down the back of the ZAGG case to allow you to prop up your Apple iPad Pro 10.5 in several different positions. When you pull the keyboard down from the front of your iPad Pro, your iPad wakes up and the display turns on.

The ZAGG Rugged Messenger matches the premium design of the Apple iPad Pro and is the keyboard combo I was looking for to match up with the Apple iPad Pro. It looks great and is well designed.

The ZAGG Rugged Messenger is only $99, which is about a third less than the Apple and Logitech keyboard options. I have tested all three and prefer the ZAGG design and capability. The ZAGG Rugged Messenger weighs in at a rather hefty 1.53 pounds, but with the iPad Pro it is still lighter than most laptops.

Although the keys may be a bit better designed on the Logitech Slim Combo, the price, Apple Pencil holder, backlighting options, and better use on your lap make the ZAGG Rugged Messenger a better option.

See more here:
ZAGG Rugged Messenger keyboard for Apple iPad 10.5 hands-on: Protective case and elegant keyboard combo - ZDNet

By Takura Zhangazha

The Zimbabwe Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services is in a comfort zone that its leaders probably didnt think was realistically feasible a couple of years back. This can be explained by the recent statement that the responsible cabinet minister Chris Mushowe made threatening to withhold parastatal advertisements from critical private media. Or oddly that he would encourage Zanu PF supporters not to buy any private papers (I am not sure how many supporters of the ruling party actually do that voluntarily.)

Whichever way one looks at it, the minister is making these statements not without elements of being in a comfort and control zone over the media but also with an arrogance that belies his mistaken perception that media freedom is a privilege and not a right. And it is fair to ask where is the government getting this arrogance from?

In some circles there has been debate in slight mimicry of South African political parlance, of media capture. Not only along factional lines in the ruling or opposition parties but also in relation to business interests that affect editorial policy. The jury is still out on the validity of this media capture assertion but suffice to say it is worth looking into, even if briefly.

He had sort of resurrected from his initial label as a media hangman and with IMPI sought to endear himself with the mainstream media, an endeavour that on the face of it, was quite successful especially with the private media. Never mind the stories and disputes that emerged from those members of Zimbabwes media profession that were to eventually be part of the panel.

Beyond IMPI, which Moyos successors at the ministry are yet to allow to come to full policy implementation, there was another element that brought a new comfort zone to government in its relations with the mainstream media. This was that of media ownership.

The most recent example has been the launch of a couple of local commercial stations owned by AB Communications. The others that are also now broadcasting are owned in part by the government controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers).And in media analysis circles this is called multimedia or even cross media ownership especially if we consider the fact that Zimpapers also has a dominant newspaper division and that AB Communications has made public its intention to start a newspaper.

And both companies are angling for the yet to be issued national television licenses. And they do have the makings of television production divisions, a sign that they have enough confidence (I dont know from where) that they are likely to also acquire these licenses at a date to be determined by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ)/ government.

The other major player in Zimbabwes media industry Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) tried to branch into radio, particularly the local commercial aspect but was denied a license in what it considered controversial circumstances. I am not sure if they are going to also try for television (a much more costly endeavour).

The end effect of these processes is that Zimbabwes media is under siege by existent and soon to be media moguls in the form of Zimpapers and AB Communications. And due to serious challenges of viability and sustainability of private media as a business, independent and objective journalism is getting harder by the day. Even those journalists that would wish to be effective freelance reporters and pursue their democratic public interest role to the hilt are now stymied by economic challenges and lack of resources to effectively do so.

It is those with resources that are not only spreading their wings across differing media platforms (newspaper to radio to television) but are also beginning to have uniform editorial policies that disable media diversity and in the final analysis determine what is news in favour of their own political or economic interests. While at the same time lauding converged newsrooms as technologically progressive when in reality they stifle news diversity and place greater commercial pressure as opposed to public interest on the shoulders of editors and journalists.

The immediate latter points are also then responsible for allegations of factional capture of the media. This is where it is a combination of business and political interests that determine news content. Hence Minister Mushowes threat that linked a purportedly over critical of government media with blanket advertising bans.

This is the background that informs central governments media comfort and control zone. And the media has to urgently shrug this government off its back sooner rather than later in the interests of democratic free expression in our country.

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)

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Zim govt's 'comfort + control zone' over the media - Nehanda Radio

George Zimmerman juror Maddy in Oxygens The Jury Speaks

*A juror inGeorge Zimmermans trial says she is still haunted four years later by her part in the verdict and feels forcefully included in the death of Trayvon Martin.

In Oxygens four-part true crime series The Jury Speaks, several of the most infamous court cases in American history are explored including trials involving Michael Jackson, Robert Durst and O.J. Simpson.

Part 3, airing tonight (July 24), reexamines the Zimmerman trial through the eyes of the jurors who deliberated on the case; many of whom had not closely followed the extensive media coverage of Trayvon Martins death. At the time of the not guilty verdict, juror Maddy explained in an interview: Its hard for me to sleep, its hard for me to eat because I feel I was forcefully included in Trayvon Martins death. And as I carry him on my back, Im hurting as much [as] Trayvons Martins mother because theres no way that any mother should feel that pain.

Four years later, Maddy continues to explain that she and the other jurors had no choice but to adhere to the law as it was outlined to them. Its a theme that seems to unite the cases in The Jury Speaks having to ignore a personal desire to administer justice, and apply only the letter of the law as described by the judge.

Maddy tells The Daily Beast, They give you this paper, and the five women were explaining it to me, saying, This is the way it has to goyou cant look at the situation from where George Zimmerman was calling 911 and was chasing him or, you know, hovering over himthats not necessarily intent to hurt anybody. You have to look at it when Trayvon Martin was on top of him. Did he feel like his life was in danger? So you look at the rules they gave you, and youre stuck in a box. You have no choiceits not emotional, its not what we want. In other words, The decision is made before we even get there.

Still, Maddy has doubts. I was the only juror who openly gave my objections and opinions to the world, she muses when asked about her post-trial interview. I just didnt have the chance to do it with [my fellow jurors], because they were very vocal, they said because I didnt know the law they were gonna help me. Was I manipulated? I dont know.

Maddy, who is Puerto Rican, was the only person of color on the six-woman jury. She says, If were being totally honest, that she felt very different from her fellow jurors, although race wasnt the only factor: I was around high-maintenance women, women who were very educated, women who were not my color, women who were not raised with the struggle that I was.

Maddy says a number of other jurors struggled with the not guilty verdict, but she recalls one woman whose motives she questions to this day. The only person who I can honestly say that I felt in my bones was racist, was the one who came out on TV, B37, she confesses. During an infamous CNN appearance, Juror B37 said that she believed Zimmermans heart was in the right place on the night of the attack, and that Martin probably threw the first punch.

Watch the trailer for Oxygens The Jury Speaks below:

Read more from the original source:
George Zimmerman Juror Still Haunted by Verdict: Was I ...