calmom
February 17, 2010, 4:36pm
16
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Katherine Evans, now 19 and attending college, was suspended in 2007 from Pembroke Pines Charter High School after she used her home computer to create a Facebook page titled, “Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I’ve ever met.”
<p>“Evans’ speech falls under the wide umbrella of protected speech,” he wrote. “It was an opinion of a student about a teacher, that was published off-campus … was not lewd, vulgar, threatening, or advocating illegal or dangerous behavior.”
<p>“The First Amendment provides protection for free speech regardless of the forum, being the Internet, the living room or a restaurant,” he told CNN.</p>
<p>On the Facebook page created by Evans, which included a picture of her teacher, Evans wrote: “To those select students who have had the displeasure of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her insane antics: Here is the place to express your feelings of hatred.”</p>
<p>According to court documents, Phelps never saw the posting, which was made from a home computer after school hours.</p>
<p>After receiving three comments from people who criticized her and supported the teacher, Evans removed the page from Facebook.</p>
<p>School principal Peter Bayer suspended Evans, an honor student, for three days for disruptive behavior and cyberbullying of a staff member. Bayer also removed her from Advanced Placement classes and assigned her to regular classes.
Source: [Facebook</a> gripes protected by free speech, ruling says - CNN.com ](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/02/16/facebook.speech.ruling/index.html]Facebook ”>Facebook gripes protected by free speech, ruling says - CNN.com )</p>
<p>Unless there are facts that are not in the CNN article, there clearly was no libel – “worst teacher I’ve ever met” is rather mild, and if the page was taken down after 3 comments supporting the teacher were posted, then it’s unlikely that anything particularly negative ever made it onto the page.</p>