Upfront Magazine~ Are Facebook "Likes" Protected by the First Amendment?

This article stated that "One day in April 2009, Daniel Ray Carter was fired from his job as deputy to Sheriff B.J Roberts in Hampton, Virginia." Daniel Carter was supposedly fired for liking the Facebook page of the person running for sheriff against his boss. So Carter sued Roberts in federal court, in a case that may help determine the limits of free speech in the digital world. But last spring Judge Raymond Jackson of the Federal District Court ruled against Carter. "Carter knew that as a public employee, he had the First Amendment right to speak freely on matters of public concern without being fired, so the case had raised questions about the Founding Fathers as they couldn't have imagined when the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791." Long ago the Supreme Court established that "students have free-speech rights at school, as long as their acts of expression didn't disrupt school activities", so why hadn't Carter had that privilege?  Whatever the courts ultimately decide about Facebook "likes" Hudson, (of the First Amendment Center in Washington D.C) thinks the bigger questions about online speech will ultimately need to be determined by the Supreme Court. "There is a pressing need on the part of the Supreme Court to clarify the boundaries of public-employee and student speech, says Hudson. Because as of right now, it's a deeply unsettled matter." In conclusion Facebook likes are somewhat protected by the First Amendment but not completely.