Man not jailed for stopping Facebook apology to his wife

A man who made comments about his estranged wife on his Facebook page and was threatened with jail unless he posted daily apologies for a month won't be locked up even though he stopped making amends early.
Mark Byron agreed to begin posting the apology last month to avoid jail but later said the ruling violated his freedom of speech. He stopped posting the apology after 26 days, but Judge Jon Sieve determined Monday that he had posted it long enough, and Byron wasn't jailed.

Byron said afterward that he was relieved not to be in jail, ``but I was prepared to go to defend my free speech rights.''

Byron's attorney, Becky Ford, said Monday that she has filed a notice of appeal in a state court.
"We believe that by scripting and saying what he had to post on Facebook, the court violated his rights to free speech,'' Ford said. ``The First Amendment not only protects your right to speak, but it also protects your ability to remain silent.''