Most posts are fairly innocuous, either supporting the women or honoring Savannah’s memory. Others get to the heart of the case, including a few discussing how the child died. Many high-profile cases are discussed by thousands or even millions of people online, though in most cases those people aren’t directly connected to the case. For instance, the Casey Anthony and Trayvon Martin cases generated immense worldwide attention on Facebook and Twitter.

Because of that, judges routinely admonish jurors not to read about a particular case online. And in Idaho, the Prosecuting Attorneys Association has advises prosecutors to avoid social media relationships that could create ethical problems — including being Facebook friends with judges — and never to talk about their cases online.

The grandmother of Savannah Hardin, Joyce Hardin Garrard, is charged with capital murder for allegedly making the child run and carry yard debris for hours as punishment for a lie about candy. The girl’s stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, is charged with failing to intervene in the punishment until it was too late.

Garrard could be sentenced to death if convicted; Hardin could get life imprisonment.

Both women remain in Etowah County’s jail without access to computers. But as in other high-profile court dramas, Facebook pages dedicated to the case appeared soon after Savannah’s death.

The “Justice for Savannah Hardin” page includes calls for harsh sentences for the women. A “Justice for Joyce Hardin Garrard” page includes supportive posts by relatives and friends and photos of Savannah, Joyce Garrard and her husband, Johnny Garrard. Backers of the women can even order T-shirts for about $15.

Many of the posts simply express sympathy for one side or the other, but some go further. In a post last month, a person posting as Johnny Garrard disagreed with a commenter’s claim about what killed the child, concluding: “I have the Death Certificate and that is not what it says.”

A few other writers suggest they have knowledge about the case that hasn’t been made public in court. In one post, a person who claims to have known Jessica Hardin for two decades explains the circumstances of the girl’s death and concludes that, in effect, Savannah ran herself to exhaustion by trying to finish chores too quickly.

Court files don’t indicate whether Judge William Ogletree is aware of the way the case is playing out in social media. He publicly admonished lawyers during a hearing in March to keep a lid on their own comments, though.

“This case has been attempted to be tried somewhat in the court of public opinion,” Ogletree said at the time.

Ogletree’s warning didn’t slow down the social media chatter, and law professors said it’s unlikely a judge could do that anyway because Facebook posts are a bit like people talking on the courthouse steps. They said the case highlights the problem the legal system faces with social sites like Facebook, where jurors, witnesses, lawyers and even judges could be “friends” or see the latest, unfiltered gossip on cases.

“It’s a phenomenon in society that’s just starting to enter the legal field,” said Don Cochran, a former prosecutor and professor at Samford University’s Cumberland law school in suburban Birmingham. “I think it’s a huge issue in practice, and it ought to be something we’re talking about in law schools.”

Steven Hobbs, a law professor at the University of Alabama, said attorneys don’t generally have a duty to police comments by relatives and friends of people involved in criminal cases.

“However, a lawyer might find it useful to so advise a potential witness as the witness is being prepared for the trial,” he wrote in an email. “Expressions on social media could hurt the case just like anything we say or post on Facebook, etc., could be used against us in the court of law or the court of public opinion.”

Prosecutors and Joyce Garrard’s attorney declined comment on the Facebook posts. A lawyer for Jessica Hardin did not return a message seeking comment.

The 40 images are stark and plain. Shot against a white background, there’s nothing but the women and their kids to draw viewers’ eyes.

Two women are shown in military uniforms with their faces to the side; two female ministers were photographed in clerical garb. The women are young and old; While one couple is kissing there’s nothing sexual about the photos, and everyone is fully clothed.

Organizers say the exhibition is meant to encourage civil dialogue about inclusion and equality in Birmingham, once a flashpoint of conflict and violence in the civil rights movement. The museum is down the street from the spot where firefighters used water hoses to douse young civil rights demonstrators in 1963.

While lesbians are the focus of the exhibit, titled “Living in Limbo: Lesbian Families in the Deep South,” professional photographer Carolyn Sherer said her work also is meant to encourage greater inclusion for gay men, bisexuals and people who are transgendered.

“We’re hoping to start a conversation about equality for everyone,” said Sherer. She has never before acknowledged her homosexuality publicly, but the exhibit includes a photo of her and her partner.

Alabama is a deeply conservative state, and Sherer expects some “push back” once people begin filtering through the exhibit, located beside galleries that document the struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and ’60s. School groups tour the institute almost daily.

The art exhibition, which runs through June 11, is the first at the 20-year-old Civil Rights Institute to feature homosexuals. The longtime president of the museum, Lawrence J Pijeaux Jr., said Thursday he has received more than 125 emails in support of the exhibit and just one complaint.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the reaction,” said Pijeaux. As he spoke, a museum director hung the final portraits ahead of the opening.

Sherer, who grew up in Birmingham, said she was inspired to do something to encourage greater understanding and acceptance of lesbians after a friend died. The woman’s female partner met resistance from the family when she tried to get clothes and other items from the home the couple had shared, Sherer said.

“That galvanized my resolve to go ahead and address my own identity as a lesbian,” she said. “This is really my coming out story.”

Armed with an idea and a camera, Sherer said she approached friends in the lesbian community and asked them to let her take family portraits for display at the museum.

“Most of my friends would not do this even with their backs to the camera,” she said.

But a few did agree, and word of the project spread along with some of Sherer’s initial photos: Soon, the dam broke and women agreed to be photographed. Anna Koopman said she and her partner, Hanne Harbison, attended a photo session with their 9-month-old son Amon after getting a couple emails about the project.

Koopman said she and Harbison had to overcome some initial doubts about being photographed as a family, but she is glad they did.

“It felt really monumental. It felt really courageous on the part of the artist, and it felt really great for us to stand up and be seen as part of this,” said Koopman. “Who we are is love and commitment and caring, and we were very excited to be counted in that regard.”

While the downtown institute is best known for its focus on civil rights, Pijeaux said the exhibit fits its overall theme of promoting human rights.

“I think it’s important to note that we don’t take sides on issues. Our goal is to bring people together to talk about issues so they can leave with some common ground as we all wrestle with many of the problems we have in the community at large,” he said. “This exhibition lends itself to that end.”

“Why would this area of the country put forward a candidate that gives away the most important issue in this election?” Santorum said in a crowded banquet room at a civic building. With his arms spread wide, he added: “There’s one option not to give it away.”

“We believe in you!” a woman called from the back of the room earlier.

“Unlike President Obama, I believe in you,” Santorum said to loud applause.

Santorum was waging a campaign on two fronts: to emerge over Gingrich as conservatives’ preferred alternative to Romney, and to derail Romney’s march toward the GOP presidential nomination.

Santorum and Gingrich were campaigning hard to win Southern states, including Alabama and Mississippi, that will vote in the coming days.

In Huntsville, Santorum drew big ovations from hundreds gathered at a state-owned museum with calls for increased federal spending on defense and space programs and less spending on social welfare programs.

Standing under a Saturn V rocket hanging from the roof of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, he recalled watching the moon landing as a child. He also praised Huntsville’s importance to the Apollo missions and NASA in general.

“As an American, I want to say thank you, Huntsville,” Santorum said. “Thank you for the work you’ve done.”

He pledged to spare the defense budget, if elected.

“I will not cut the defense budget while I’m president,” he said. “With a nuclear Iran, who knows what could be coming to this country.”

Forty-seven Republican convention delegates are at stake in Alabama’s Republican primary on Tuesday. Romney visits Alabama on Friday. Gingrich visited earlier in the week, including a stop at the space museum.

Decatur resident Robert Couey, who attended both space center events, said Thursday that he doesn’t support Romney and contended that Romney isn’t conservative enough. Couey said he likes Santorum, adding that he thinks Gingrich has been inconsistent on issues.

“He speaks with conviction,” Couey said of Santorum. “Gingrich is intelligent. He has the background but look at … all the things he’s said.”

Huntsville resident Gay Nyberg said she is down to deciding between Santorum and Gingrich. Romney, she said, isn’t for her.

“I think the other guy is not a true conservative,” she said, “and I don’t know that I can trust him to represent me.”