Apologize on Facebook or Go to Jail

Vent on Facebook today, go to jail tomorrow ... unless you apologize, that is.

Cincinnati-based photographer Mark Byron discovered how what he wrote on Facebook came back to haunt him in an unusual way:

In June 2011, Byron was found guilty of civil domestic violence against his Elizabeth Byron, and the court gave her a temporary protection order.

In November, he posted a nasty note about his wife on his Facebook wall, which read: "If you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband's life and take your son's father away from him completely -- all you need to do is say you're scared of your husband or domestic partner and they'll take him away!"

"I just went on Facebook to vent," Byron said in a televised interview with WLWT-TV. "I kind of likened it to having a drink with a friend at a bar and telling them about things."

Byron had blocked his wife from seeing his Facebook page, but she still learned about the post and proceeded to file a motion stating that the post violated the protection order, which prohibited her then husband "from causing the plaintiff or the child of the parties to suffer physical and/or mental abuse, harassment, annoyance or bodily injury."

On Jan. 25, magistrate Paul Meyers agreed that Byron had violated the protection order and offered him a choice: go to jail for 60 days and pay a $500 fine, or pay back child support and post an apology, penned by Meyers on his Facebook page for 30 days beginning in mid-February.

Link | Interview at WLWT-TV


"If you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband's life and take your son's father away from him completely -- all you need to do is say you're scared of your husband or domestic partner and they'll take him away!"
Where does he mention HIS wife or a son?
It's the same as if someone said "some people are stupid" and the guy who overheard it sued him for this.
This is fucked
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Sounds to me like they're both at fault, and I bet this is probably one in a long saga of things done purely out of spite. I feel really sorry for their kid though.
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Freedom of speech isn't the issue here. It's the same reason you'll get in trouble for falsely yelling "fire" in a crowded place. He did the equivalent of going around town and posting pictures of his wife with his rant. Since that would very likely cause people to react negatively to his wife, then it violates the protection order.
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"In June 2011, Byron was found guilty of civil domestic violence against his Elizabeth Byron, and the court gave her a temporary protection order.
if you hit a woman, i have no sympathy for you
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@johnJ:

sited - past tense of site (Verb)Verb: 1.Adopt or be in a position in which one's weight is supported by one's buttocks rather than one's feet and one's back is upright.

cited - 1.Quote (a passage, book, or author) as evidence for or justification of an argument or statement, esp. in a scholarly work.
2.Mention as an example.

Unless you actually meant that Freedom of Speech's weight is actually situated on only one butt cheek.
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This prize of a father hasn't paid his child support. AND is someone who posts these kind of rants on Facebook.

Pretty clear who's the eejet here.
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What a mature man, this guy is. ''Venting'' about his wife on fbook. Wow.

Of course, I forgot, everyone knows that publishing something on the Internet is always without consequence.
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So the JUDGE writes the apology that this man has to post on his Facebook acct?

The same acct. that his wife had no authorized access to in the first place & probably still isn't on his friend list now?

So is the wife really an "evil" liar like her husband said? She sure sounds like she goes out of her way to cause trouble.

Sad for the child who is stuck in the middle of this dysfunction. Shame on the judge for being so stupid, too.
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seriously?

"Byron had blocked his wife from seeing his Facebook page..."

So he's getting punished for something that she did. Its like me taking a 100 yard restraining order against someone, then walking up to them to get them in trouble.
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Earlier this month we heard about a judge that made a man take his wife out for a lobster dinner and now a judge is making a guy post a public apology on his Facebook page. It seems like the intent here is only to shame the man. How about sticking with tradition and throw him in jail for a while and make him pay his child support. I have a hard time believing this is justice and not yet another judge only looking for some publicity.
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I love when freedom of speech is sited when it has nothing to do with the complaint.

That said, I think the spouse should develop a thicker skin. Of course, we might not have all the facts.
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