Facing Facebook, Facing Ourselves

In an unpublished decision filed on Feb. 25, 2011, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky unanimously affirmed a lower court ruling awarding primary custody of a divorcing couple's three-year-old child to the father. On appeal, the mother argued that Facebook photographs showing her “enjoying parties and apparently consuming alcoholic beverages against the advice of her mental health providers” were improperly admitted into evidence. Even though the mother conceded that the photographs accurately depicted her conduct, she took the position that the evidence was inadmissible because she never authorized their publication ' even though “Facebook allows anyone to post pictures and then tag or identify the people in the pictures.” Her evidentiary objection was overruled by the lower court, which held that the Facebook photographs were properly authenticated and therefore admissible. Jessica J. LaLonde v. Adam N. LaLonde, 2011 WL 832465 (Ky. Ct. App. 2011).