The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a trial court decision that a public official's Facebook page was a public forum, and that the First Amendment rights of a commenter were violated whey the official banned him from her site. The decision appeared to rest on the public nature of the forum: (1) the official designated the page as the page of a "governmental official;" (2) the official directed her constituents to use the page to communicate with her on public matters; and (3) she publicized her page on her official, county-published newsletter. While the opinion is off-putting for municipal lawyers, it also gives a fairly clear path to a way to keep Facebook pages private. The opinion can be found at http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/172002.P.pdf.
- Ron Stutes