Maine supreme court: Facebook posts violate no contact order

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court says Tuesday it rejects Richard Heffron III’s argument that his Facebook posts didn’t constitute contact, that his posts are a protected form of speech, and that he wasn’t told that social media posts violated the order. (Photo: Marco Paköeningrat/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

PORTLAND, Maine —  Maine’s highest court agrees that a man’s social media posts violate a protection order.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court says Tuesday it rejects Richard Heffron III’s argument that his Facebook posts didn’t constitute contact, that his posts are a protected form of speech, and that he wasn’t told that social media posts violated the order.

The Bath man has been sentenced to 21 days in jail for violating the no-contact order.

Heffron and the subject of the no-contact order are no longer Facebook “friends” but still have “friends” in common. In the posts, Heffron referred to her and made threats against her.

In its ruling, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court says that Heffron’s communications “fell short of those that deserve constitutional protection.”