The Ethics of the Blogging and Public Comments of Prosecutors

Interesting story Sunday in the San Francisco Chronicle about a Kern County DA who started a blog and responded to a Bakersfield newspaper's criticisms about his office and some of its cases.  The story reports that other prosecutors and city attorneys in California have started blogs and replied to public criticisms.  The story is "Blogging Prosecutors Raise Some Eyebrows," and includes criticism of the practice from an ethics columnist for the California Bar Journal.  [HT: It was linked by Howard Bashman in How Appealing.] 

In any event, to the extent such blogs inevitably meander into comment on cases, the writers should learn from the ethical hot water that N.C.'s Mike Nifong created for himself with his public pronouncements on the Duke case.  [Alan Childress]