UPDATED 5:00 P.M.
Bill White plans to live in Maryland for now but his attorney says he could eventually return to Roanoke. White was released from federal custody Wednesday afternoon in Chicago.
Local leaders in the black community fear White will return to Roanoke. Brenda Hale, of the local NAACP, told News 7 "we have to be vigilant because hate has no place in the Roanoke Valley."
Hale disagrees with the judge's decision to overturn White's conviction. "When the constitution was written, it wasn't written for that purpose, it wasn't written to espouse hate," said Hale.
As part of his probation on other charges he faced in Roanoke, White can't posted anything online.
UPDATED: 1:31
Bill White's attorney tells News 7 White has been released and is heading to Maryland.
Bill White will most likely be released from prison today after a federal judge ruled a Chicago jury was wrong when it convicted White for using his website to solicit violence, saying the posts were protected by the First Amendment.
White's attorney expects his client to be released by lunch time. When asked if White plans to return to Roanoke, Nishay Sanan told News 7 "He's either going to go back to Roanoke or go stay with his family in Maryland for sometime. After that I'm not sure what he is going to do."
Reacting to the judge's ruling, Sanan told News 7 "I think the First Amendment has been vindicated. It shows even if speech is unpopular or the person himself is unpopular he's still protected under the same First Amendment that other people are and justice was finally served."
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago told News 7 it hasn't decided whether to appeal the judge's decision. The government filed a stay to prevent White from being released from prison while it decides whether to appeal. A judge denied that motion.
CHICAGO (AP) --
A federal judge has ruled that a Chicago jury was wrong when it convicted a white supremacist of using his website to solicit violence, saying the posts were First Amendment protected.
Tuesday's decision means William White of Virginia may be released from prison.
In 2008, White published a juror's personal information on his website, which regularly attacked nonwhites, Jews and homosexuals.
He was foreman of a jury that convicted another supremacist of soliciting a judge's murder.
White was convicted of solicitation in January.
Judge Lynn Adelman reversed the conviction and denied U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's order to stay the proceedings.
White's attorney Nishay Sanan says the First Amendment has been upheld.
Sanan and prison officials didn't know when White would be released.
