Facebook post, back to prison

A Facebook post could send an Ohio man back to prison, although his defense attorney says Ryan Fye did nothing wrong and he should be released from jail on a probation violation charge that stemmed from the post that he made. 22 year old Ryan Fye was convicted for a fatal car accident and sentenced to serve 3 years in prison. After being released from prison early Fye posted a Facebook message that showed him giving the bird, middle finger raised, and text that said “Prison didn’t break me. It MADE me.” The family of the victim in the fatal car accident and the judge in the case both took issue with the Facebook post, and Ryan was placed back behind bars waiting for a probation violation hearing.

Defense attorney Michael Stepanik told reporters “It wasn’t a good idea. Committing a crime is a probation violation, not abiding by the rules is a probation violation. Mr. Fye didn’t do any of those things.” Now Fye’s attorney is fighting against the attempt to send his client back to prison over a Facebook post, saying that Fye was simply responding to an online threat made against him and that the post had nothing to do with his conviction or the victim’s family. Attorney Stepanik has challenged the decision to plave Ryan Fye back into custody, and the rule that was used to find that Fye violated his probation has nothing to do with the Facebook post and instead deals with his conduct with the court and probation officials. Do you think that Ryan Fye has a right to express himself the way that he did?