crime

Murdered girl's family protests Tokyo judge's tweet on case

14 Comments

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WTF, "mercilessly murdered" think the judge needs looking into.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Judges should not be on social media, let alone tweeting about cases.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I didn't have a problem with the tweet itself although it apparently did violate an internal court rule against postings related to sex offenses.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

i don't see what the big deal is. the judge, who wasn't involved in the trial, posted his thoughts on a murder. did he say something that was factually incorrect or wasn't known to the public?

@reckless couldn't agree with you any more. twitter, like facebook, is the most useless thing invented in the 21st century. how people can spend their lives tweeting or facebooking is beyond me.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

It could have been the context the tweet appeared in as well. This court has been censured before for retweeting pictures of men in underwear, bodies undergoing fitness training etc. on its homepage so if it was perceived to be a salacious environment I can more easily see how the family would be offended. We all respond differently, so when in doubt just don't do it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What the judge posted is in very poor taste, but why is he posting about cases on Twitter anyway?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

@nakanoguiy01

A man who has a propensity to be sexually aroused by watching a woman being strangled and agonized.

Saying something like this at a trial seems ok, in a journalistic opinion piece also, maybe, but as you said "twitter [...] is the most useless thing invented in the 21st century", making it sound pretty trivial and lacking respect toward the memory of the victim. (Note that he didn't say anything about justice for the victim, but went directly for the sexual aspect of the crime)

It doesn't matter if he was on the case or not, he is still a judge and he is supposed to be impartial.

But in the end :

"I felt he was making fun" of the murder, said Yumiko Iwase, the 49-year-old mother of the victim.

He should apologize just for that reason.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@Luddite - fully agree....especially considering these circumstances. The judge should not be using social media to discuss any aspect of a case. If the mother felt he was making fun of the murder that is a big deal and as the last poster says this itself deserves an apology.

I do not like to bring Trump into every issue however this is one case where the President of the U.S. using Twitter is equally as troublesome (and could make others feel this is an acceptable way to communicate these types of things).

In so many instances it is better to say nothing than to say something you might think is intelligent or helpful. This is certainly one instance where that is the case.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The judges that blog or tweet in the US it could be argued are helping to improve public understanding of the courts and increase the transparency and accountability of the judicial system. They are also normally judges that are elected and are making a self interested effort to stay in touch with their constituency. According to the NHK article the judge in this case also tweet about professional matters. The problem is not the medium but the particular ways it is being used, or mis used.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Lizz - I understand your point however because of the limitations of Twitter I think it is not a proper media to make these types of comments. I do not use it but I think there is a word limitation which does not allow someone to provide meaningful commentary.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Kobe bar person -

you’re confusing mercilessly and mercifully.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I understand your point however because of the limitations of Twitter I think it is not a proper media to make these types of comments. 

I am saying that judges use it as a hugely available networking tool like all professionals, to share legal news, blogs, book reviews, even cultural references, sports, humor and cartoon sites. Sure there may be a controversy here or there but as long as they avoid partisan commentary and any issues that could come before them that really isn't a reason for a blanket ban on social media.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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