A judge ruled recently (PDF) that a post on a high school’s Facebook page about a school board candidate in a neighboring school district constituted an illegal campaign contribution. Even though no money was given to the candidate, the judge ruled that the post's influence had intrinsic value.

The debacle began on an August day around noon, when the principal at Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins, CO took to the school’s Facebook page to post an article from a local newspaper announcing that a woman named Tomi Grundvig would run for a seat on the school board in a neighboring school district. Grundvig, a substitute teacher and a nurse, had a child attending Liberty Common.

”Liberty Common High School parent Mrs. Tomi Grundvig Announced she’s running for a seat on the Thompson School District Board of Education,” the post on the school’s Facebook page read. “Loveland Reporter-Herald story about the position here:”

An hour later, the principal of Liberty Common went to his personal Facebook page and shared the post he made on Liberty Common’s page, calling Grundvig an “excellent education leader” who was “stepping up to offer sensible stewardship” of Thompson’s School District.

The principal, Bob Schaffer, knew something about campaigns too—he previously served as a Republican congressman and ran for US Senate twice. At the time, Schaffer had about 3,900 Facebook friends.

The post caught the eye of Gil Barela, the campaign manager for Grundvig’s competitor Pam Howard. Barela filed suit against Liberty Common High School, arguing that the well-known principal’s posts constituted free publicity for Grundvig and violated Colorado’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, which prohibits wealthy contributors and special interest groups from exercising "a disproportionate level of influence over the political process."

Schaffer has argued that his post on the school's Facebook page was "clinical" and politically neutral and that he's free to post whatever favorable opinions he likes on his personal Facebook page.

But Administrative Law Judge Matthew Norwood this month agreed with Barela, ordering Liberty Common High School to take its post down. The judge wrote that in posting a link to the school’s Facebook page, Liberty Common indirectly gave “a think of value,” i.e., publicity, to Grundvig. “This is supported by Mr. Schaffer’s favorable 'share' concerning Ms. Grundvig,” the judge wrote.

The judge continued to say that although most of the people reading the post may have been in Liberty Common’s school district, and not eligible to vote in the school district where Grundvig was running, “the posting had the effect of drumming up support for the candidate.”

”[T]he reach of Facebook is very wide,” Judge Norwood added.

According to the Coloradoan, Barela initially asked the court to order Liberty Common to post a statement on Facebook saying that it does not support any candidate in the neighboring district’s election. But Judge Norwood denied that request, ordering only that Liberty Common remove the offending post.

“Posting such statements and links on the school’s Facebook page will bring about more ‘liking,’ ‘sharing,’ and commenting and will further embroil the school in election politics,” Norwood wrote, according to the Coloradan. “The less said on the school’s Facebook page about candidates and elections, the better.”

Schaffer told the paper the school had spent about $2,000 on top of staff time to respond to the charges, and it will likely not appeal the ruling. Liberty Common High School appears to have already removed the post from their Facebook page.