It appears that at least one U.S. court is taking a tough stance on jurors who violate the court's rules on improper communications. Today, a juror in Sarasota County, Florida was sentenced to 3 days in jail for sending a Facebook Friend request to the defendant.
Up to this point, most American courts, unlike in Britain, have avoided sentencing jurors to jail for violating court rules on improper communications. It will be interesting to see if this case is an anomaly or marks a change in the approach taken by American judges in dealing with Digital Jurors. Since some believe that this particular juror might have purposely sent the Friend request in order to be dismissed from jury duty (on Facebook the juror bragged about getting kicked of the jury), I am not sure that other judges will necessarily follow in the footsteps of this Florida trial judge and incarcerate jurors for failing to follow court rules about communicating with others.
Miami Herald: Juror gets 3 days in jail for Facebook request
USA Today: Juror jailed for contempt for 'friending' defendant
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