Judge Doesn't 'Like' Facebook as Free Speech?

A Virginia sheriff's deputy who was fired for "liking" his boss' opponent on Facebook likes his chances in a federal lawsuit claiming his click was constitutionally protected.

The deputy, Daniel Ray Carter Jr., and five other employees were fired after clicking the like button on Facebook in support of Jim Adams, their boss opponent in the race for Hampton sheriff in 2009. Carter and the other five terminated employees have been fighting in the courts ever since, saying their firings violated their right to free speech. But a May decision from U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson did not go in their favor.

It is the Courts conclusion that merely liking a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection, Jackson wrote in his opinion.

- Richard Roth, First Amendment lawyer

Carter's legal team filed an appeal last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals and is hoping a panel of judges will overturn the previous ruling.

I think the Virginia court blew it, attorney Richard Roth of the Roth Law Firm told FoxNews.com. Youre pressing a like button. Youre pressing a button that says I like the ad or the candidate. I dont know how the court can say its not protected speech.

Facebook and the ACLU have recently gotten involved in this suit, both filing an amicus brief, which states their support for First Amendment protection in this particular case.

It is essential that the courts understand that these new ways of speaking be protected by the First Amendment just as much as our old ways, ACLU attorney Aden Fine told FoxNews.com

In the filed brief, Facebook said the like was the 21st-century equivalent of a front-yard campaign sign. They continued to say, liking a Facebook Page is entitled to full First Amendment protection. The district court reached a contrary conclusion based on an apparent misunderstanding of the way Facebook works.

Those in defense of Sheriff B.J. Robert, who won his re-election and then fired the six employees, claim that because no actual speech was involved, it does not warrant protection.

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Judge Doesn't 'Like' Facebook as Free Speech?