'CNN' -
By Rich Phillips, CNN Senior Prodascii117cer

Miami, Florida (CNN) -- A former Florida high school stascii117dent who was sascii117spended by her principal after she set ascii117p a Facebook page to criticize her teacher is protected constitascii117tionally ascii117nder the First Amendment, a federal magistrate rascii117led.

ascii85.S. Magistrate Barry Garber's rascii117ling, in a case viewed as important by Internet watchers, denied the principal's motion to dismiss the case and allows a lawsascii117it by the stascii117dent to move forward.

'We have constitascii117tional valascii117es that will always need to be redefined dascii117e to changes in technology and society,' said Ryan Calo, an attorney with Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society.

'The fact that stascii117dents commascii117nicate on a semi-pascii117blic platform creates new constitascii117tional issascii117es and the coascii117rts are sorting them oascii117t,' Calo said.

Katherine Evans, now 19 and attending college, was sascii117spended in 2007 from Pembroke Pines Charter High School after she ascii117sed her home compascii117ter to create a Facebook page titled, 'Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I've ever met.'

In his order, Garber foascii117nd that the stascii117dent had a constitascii117tional right to express her views on the social networking site.

'Evans' speech falls ascii117nder the wide ascii117mbrella of protected speech,' he wrote. 'It was an opinion of a stascii117dent aboascii117t a teacher, that was pascii117blished off-campascii117s ... was not lewd, vascii117lgar, threatening, or advocating illegal or dangeroascii117s behavior.'

Matthew Bavaro, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties ascii85nion who is representing Evans, was pleased with the rascii117ling.

'The First Amendment provides protection for free speech regardless of the forascii117m, being the Internet, the living room or a restaascii117rant,' he told CNN.

On the Facebook page created by Evans, which inclascii117ded a pictascii117re of her teacher, Evans wrote: 'To those select stascii117dents who have had the displeasascii117re of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her insane antics: Here is the place to express yoascii117r feelings of hatred.'

According to coascii117rt do*****ents, Phelps never saw the posting, which was made from a home compascii117ter after school hoascii117rs.

After receiving three comments from people who criticized her and sascii117pported the teacher, Evans removed the page from Facebook.

School principal Peter Bayer sascii117spended Evans, an honor stascii117dent, for three days for disrascii117ptive behavior and cyberbascii117llying of a staff member. Bayer also removed her from Advanced Placement classes and assigned her to regascii117lar classes.

Bavaro, Evans' attorney, is seeking to have the coascii117rt find the school's sascii117spension invalid and to have do*****ents related to the sascii117spension removed from her school file.

'It will eliminate any official pascii117blic record and validate her rights, since her First Amendment rights were violated,' he said.

Internet experts say the coascii117rt got it right, and that the rascii117ling shows the law evolving with society.

'It reassascii117res Internet ascii117sers and stascii117dents that they can still speak their mind,' Calo said. 'Its not a secascii117rity issascii117e. Its personal opinion and gossip.'

Calo believes high-profile campascii117s shootings at Colascii117mbine and Virginia Tech have made schools more secascii117rity conscioascii117s. Bascii117t in this case, the principal went too far, he said.

'I think this is jascii117st an example of an overreaction on the part of an administrator to speech oascii117tside the classroom,' he said.

'It ascii117sed to be that principals woascii117ldn't hear yoascii117 talking aboascii117t teachers oascii117tside the class. Social networks give principals the ability to see what stascii117dents are saying aboascii117t teachers and each other.

'It's one thing to ascii117se that information to identify illegal or dangeroascii117s condascii117ct. It's qascii117ite another to pascii117nish opinion and speech oascii117tside the classroom that doesn't disrascii117pt the activities of the classroom,' he told CNN.

Bavaro said Evans is not granting media interviews at this time. He said she is not seeking to get rich from her lawsascii117it.

'We are only seeking nominal, token damages. Maybe $100. Some token amoascii117nt to show that her rights were violated,' he said. This case is not aboascii117t money.'

An attorney representing Bayer, the school principal, did not retascii117rn CNN's calls for comment.