Does the 1st Amendment protect me in this case?

[gabrielo19]

I posted on Facebook in response to a political issue, simply an opinion on the matter, nothing libelous or slanderous. I am a high school teacher, and my boss confronted me about it. He said someone mentioned that I had made a FB comment regarding the issue. He wants me to be careful about what I post on Facebook from now on, although he also said he upholds my 1st Amendment rights.

Although it was a liberal view, I didn't think that what I said would cause someone to contact my boss, and only certain people can see what I've written on my wall. I explained to him about the privacy restrictions an individual can place on his/her page--that only friends could see my page, but he's not tech savvy and has no idea how it works.

I have now become paranoid and eliminated some of my 'friends,' since someone is not brave enough to confront me about my opinions and feels a need to go behind my back. I'll have to take a chance guessing who it was, but that's okay. I now have absolutely no current students who can view wall posts, and no one else unless I feel pretty sure I can trust that person.

I'm not yet tenured in the system and want to be careful. I grew up in a small Southern town and have been away for a while. I forgot how provincial and narrow-minded small they can be.

Is this a violation of 1st Amendment rights if it is pushed any further?

[maddox]

There have been several cases on the subject, such as
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/02/16/facebook.speech.ruling/index.html

but in each case, some action had been taken against the person (like suspending them from school).

He said you should be more careful in the future. That's hardly a violation of your rights.

[jarl]

You are protected by the 1st Amendment. It's better to talk to a lawyer. There's also a case going on right now in Florida because a girl got suspended for making a Facebook page saying that her teacher sucked or something like that.

[slaine]

As far as I can tell, you're whining because one of your facebook friends told your boss about a comment and he told you to be careful.

I really don't think this is a 1st amendment issue.