The Social Media Toolkit as a Means to Support Self-Represented Defendants and Increase Procedural Justice in Criminal Courts

Abstract

The trend towards an increase in pro se litigation challenges all court systems. Criminal courts face unique challenges maintaining the integrity of the criminal adjudicatory process while balancing the competing interests of moving cases efficiently through the system, respecting defendant autonomy and honoring due process. Holding pro se litigants to the same standards as attorneys, just one of the challenges inherent in allowing pro se defendant representation, can prove difficult because defendants often lack the necessary education, experience and social knowledge about how a courtroom works. As the pro se movement shows no signs of decreasing, courts must make an effort to accommodate these defendants with a plan that addresses court efficiency, autonomy and judicial process integrity concerns. Scholars generally agree that providing pro se defendants with a “road map, a passive tool, [that] lets them competently exercise their own route” can address many of the issues courts encounter when pro se defendants enter the system. Previous scholars have suggested potential solutions that could come from courts, non-profit organizations, or even law offices. One scholar has argued that the middle class has a significant unmet legal need in civil litigation cases and that social media might be the key to facilitating access to justice. This paper will take these arguments further and apply them to criminal court cases, highlighting unique considerations of the criminal justice process. This paper will address both how courts can use social media to assist pro se criminal defendants and why doing so improves individual and community relationships with the courts and furthers procedural justice goals. This paper proposes a Social Media Toolkit provided and overseen by a community’s local court that allows pro se defendants to interact with court staff and to access informational videos that will assist them in resolving their cases. As the influence and pervasiveness of social media increases, many organizations and businesses have implemented strategies to reach out online to the communities they once served exclusively in person. State courts are no exception. Some state courts have implemented parts of the proposed toolkit. This paper will discuss those examples and advocate for increased social media engagement in communities where it is absent.