The Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

to ensure fairness and equality for the accused

UACDL Forum Policies

Welcome to the UACDL Forum housed at lists.uacdl.org. This service is a group email of UACDL attorney members where users can share ideas, swap motions and briefs, post novel legal questions, exchange information on judges, prosecutors, and experts, and inform members about matters of general interest to criminal defense lawyers. UACDL attorney members are automatically added to the UACDL Forum when they join.

The Forum is a powerful tool for members but is also subject to abuse on occasion. Messages that are not related to criminal defense tend to create unneeded and unwanted email traffic and add to users’ already busy workloads.

I. Rules of Forum Usage

To ensure that use of the Forum remains a helpful resource, the following policies, protocols, disclaimer, and tips for usage apply:

  • Only UACDL attorney members may use the UACDL Forum.
  • All Forum messages must include the first and last names of the author. A signature line with the member’s name and address is preferred.
  • All messages must include a subject line that describes the nature of the message and which would generally allow users to determine the contents of the message.
  • To protect the integrity of the Forum and its members, no messages may be disseminated to anyone outside of the UACDL Forum without the express permission of all authors.
  • Caution. Be aware that UACDL also uses a separate email service that announces upcoming seminars and alerts the membership of important information. This service looks different from Forum messages in that it includes a header that looks like the UACDL website. Messages sent from this service are important announcements sent from the UACDL offices that all members should read.

II. Rules to Reduce Forum Traffic

  • Send replies intended for only one person or a few people to these individuals only. Warning: Simply clicking the Reply button will automatically send the response to everyone on the Forum. The UACDL Board of Directors has decided that sharing valuable information to all members outweighs the increased traffic caused by setting the default on the Forum to send to all. In the Board’s experience, erring on the side of sharing more information is better than risking valuable comments being sent to the original sender only. This policy requires users to use good judgment when replying to messages.
  • To send a message to an individual person, users must create a new message by manually typing in the intended receiver’s email address or by right clicking on the receiver’s email address and selecting the option to send a message to the receiver. In any event, most email programs include a feature that recognizes a person’s email address after typing in the first few letters of a person’s name or email address.
  • Any message that asks for responses that would not be of general interest to the Forum as a whole must include a notation in the subject line that the message is “Off Topic.” Also, the body of the message should include a note for replies to be sent “Off List” to the sender. Senders must also include their email address in the body of the message.
  • To comment on a post or to send a personal message to the sender when the comments are unrelated to UACDL’s mission of protecting and defending constitutional liberties, send the response to the original sender only and any others you wish to include. Do not send personal messages or comments to the entire Forum.

III. Prohibited Uses of the Forum

  • No personal messages unrelated to UACDL’s mission of preserving criminal defendants’ constitutional rights are allowed. Examples of discouraged personal messages include:
    • Thank you notes and comments that are directed to one or a few people only
    • Business solicitations or advertisements
    • Personal political opinions
    • Political campaigning
  • Personal insults, attacks on others’ character, and inferring bad motives (including in retaliation to rule violators) are strictly forbidden. Violations may result in removal from the Forum or even from UACDL.
  • The disclosure of any Forum communications to non-criminal defense lawyers is grounds for removal from the Forum or from UACDL. No matter how offensive or personally important a post may be, Forum users may not disclose Forum communications to others who are not engaged in criminal defense. See more information on the Terms of Membership page.
  • Before posting a request for research assistance or advice, users first must have expended reasonable efforts to find the answer themselves. The Forum is not to be used for blanket requests for help in hopes that someone has already researched and briefed an issue and will be willing to hand over the fruits of that person’s labor.
  • Avoid criticizing specific persons, especially judges, prosecutors, fellow criminal defense lawyers, etc. Because the Forum is not a secure forum, users should keep in mind that disparaging comments can be attributed to other users or UACDL as a whole. Although logically a person’s comments should only reflect that person’s own views, others may infer, albeit incorrectly, that the failure to rebut one person’s comments means that others adopt the comments. Regardless of the fallacy of this reasoning, Forum comments should be offered with the assumption that non-criminal defense lawyers will see them.
  • Advocating or campaigning for a party or candidate is not allowed on the Forum . But, sharing information of a political nature that would be of interest to the membership as a whole is allowed. For example, notice of an upcoming political debate between candidates for office may be of general interest to the Forum membership.

IV. Policing the Forum

  • Failure to follow these measures will result in a friendly reminder from one of the Forum moderators or administrator. The UACDL Board of Directors will consider repeated or egregious breaches and may remove abusers from the Forum .
  • One of the most effective ways to improve the Forum is members policing themselves. Self-policing means users following the rules without being told to do so and also gently reminding others that a post violates Forum rules.

V. Disclaimer Regarding Confidentiality

  • The Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (“UACDL”) has provided a Forum for its attorney members to share information, communicate with its members, and provide information about upcoming events that are of general interest to the membership. UACDL does not actively police the Forum and is not responsible for the content of messages posted by subscribers. Membership on the Forum is by subscription only and subscribers affirmatively agree not to distribute Forum messages outside of the Forum itself.
  • Because the Forum is not a secure forum, members must assume that once a message is posted to the Forum, it is possible that information from the message may be disseminated to others beyond the Forum. Accordingly, care should be taken with all postings. Leaks have been documented previously and so users must assume that any posting could be received by nonsubscribers such as judges, prosecutors, ethics officials, law enforcement officials, etc.

VI. UACDL Forum Discipline Procedures

The following procedures for addressing violations of the UACDL Forum policies are detailed below to ensure notice to users, evenhanded and fair application of the policies, and to give users an opportunity to be heard and to address the fairness of disciplinary measures.

  • When a user first violates the Forum policies, the Executive Director or designee shall personally contact the user by telephone, email, or face to face to explain the violation and to warn the user that further violations will result in more severe sanctions. The Executive Director will then document the contact in a written message sent to the user.
  • Upon a second violation, the President shall deliver a written letter to the offender that details the violation and informs the user of any discipline that the UACDL Board of Trustees has voted to take against the user. Discipline ranges from a probationary period to suspension of Forum access, to permanent removal from the Forum.
  • Appeals Rights – At any stage of these proceedings, users may appeal disciplinary actions to the Board. To appeal, users must deliver a letter to the President and Executive Director that explains why the discipline was inappropriate. The Executive Director will then forward the letter to the entire Board. The Board will then consider the written appeal and respond to the user no later than the next scheduled Board meeting.

VII. Tips for Managing Forum Traffic

To ensure that the Forum remains a valuable resource, please be respectful of other users and do not send unwanted or unnecessary messages to all users. Time is a scarce commodity, and so please respect others who do not wish to read extra messages that do not pertain to them. Users who want to manage Forum traffic have numerous options at their disposal. You can adjust settings and receipt of emails on your profile at lists.uacdl.org. The first time you access it use your email address associated with the Forum as your username, and you’ll be directed to create an account where you can adjust settings.