Virginia deputy fights his firing over a Facebook 'like'

According to CNN, a Virginia sheriff's deputy has been fired for liking his boss's political opponent -- on Facebook. Now Daniel Ray Carter Jr. is fighting back in court, arguing that a "like" should be protected by his First Amendment right to free speech. It's a case that could settle a significant question at a time when hundreds of millions of people express themselves on Facebook, sometimes merging their personal, professional and political lives in the process.

According to court documents, the case began when Sheriff B.J. Roberts of Hampton, Virginia, fired Carter and five other employees for supporting his rival in a 2009 election.

Carter's offense? Clicking the omnipresent Facebook thumbs-up to follow the page "Jim Adams For Hampton Sheriff." Roberts, of course, won re-election, leading to the firings.

Free-speech advocates argue that the "like" should have been clearly protected by Carter's right to freedom of expression. But a U.S. District Court judge in Virginia ruled differently saying, in effect, that free-speech protections don't kick in when someone doesn't actually say something.

"Liking a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection," Judge Judge Raymond A. Jackson wrote in his May ruling, because it doesn't "involve actual statements." Carter is appealing that ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals. The appeal was filed last week, and the sheriff's lawyers are expected to respond by next month.