Social Media and Jury Waiver High Court Cases, and Other Appellate News

The California Appellate Law Podcast

The U.S. Supreme Court provides awaited guidance on public officials’ use of social media, and the California Supreme Court gives a cautionary tale about waiving the right to a jury trial. Jeff and I discuss:

• 📰Free Speech on Government Social Media: Lindke v. Freed (Mar. 15, 2024, No. 22-611), notable for being short and unanimous, holds that, when a public official talks about official business on a private social media page, it’s no longer a private social media page.
• ⚖️Jury waivers: If you waive, and the trial judge declines to set aside the waiver, it’s game over: any right to appeal is symbolic only.
• 🤷Also symbolic: the different between waiver and forfeiture. The difference, it is said, is that waiver is intentional. But the Court notes that waiver can also be unintentional. That pretty much obliterates any distinction between the terms, save for spelling.
• 👎The facts were based solely on filed documents, not testimony. So appellate review is de novo, right? Wrong. Appellate courts don’t defer to fact-finding because the trial court is better at it. They defer because it’s not the appellate court’s job description.
• ⛪A Church of Scientology case involving Leah Remini is poised for an anti-SLAPP appeal.

Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed.

Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biography, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, and YouTube page.

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Other items discussed in the episode:

• Lindke v. Freed (Mar. 15, 2024, No. 22-611)
• TriCoast Builders v. Fonnegra (Feb. 26, 2024 No. S273368)
• Jones v. Solgen Construction, LLC (D5 Feb. 26, 2024, No. F085918) [cert. for pub.].
• Remini v. Church of Scientology
• “Motion granted, Bimbo!” — the Candi Bimbo Doll case; Wood v. S.F. Cnty. Superior Court (D1d2 Mar. 14, 2024 No. A168463) [cert. for pub.]
• Videos from this episode will be posted at Tim Kowal’s YouTube channel.