NBC’s the “Today” show weatherman Al Roker caused a ruckus on Thursday after he snapped a few photographs of jurors at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City and posted them on his Twitter page, The New York Daily News reported.
“I’m not breaking laws…just trying to share the experience of jury duty,” Al wrote on his Twitter page. “One that I think is important and everyone should take part in.”
Al’s courthouse pics quickly circulated around the blogosphere and popped up on numerous Web sites.
The weatherman defended his pics, saying, “So everyone is clear, I am NOT taking pictures in the courtroom. So folks need to lighten up. I am in the jury lounge.”
When, David Bookstaver, Director of Communications for the New York Unified Court System, became aware of Al’s photos, he helped remind Al of the court’s no photography policy.
“It came to my attention and I reached out to the chief jury clerk,” he told the paper. “[Al] said, ‘Look, I’m sorry if I caused anybody any grief.’”
Bookstaver told Access Hollywod that despite the uproar, he was glad Al was serving as a good example to other citizens.
“It was no big deal, we’re delighted that Mr. Roker came to do his civic duty,” he said in a statement released to Access. “If anything all of this nonsense does shed a light that no one is exempt from their civic duty.”
After the Twitter wrist slap, Al wrote that he has “learned a lesson” and was “going back into the courtroom, [with] iPhone buried deep in my bag”
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