You've probably read of Julie Amero's unbelievable malware misfortune. The substitute teacher was working at a Norwich, Connecticut school in 2004 when the classroom computer began spewing porn pop-ups in front of a room full of pupils. The result; Amero was arrested and charged with four counts of "impairing the morals of a child", a crime of which she was subsequently convicted. Nevermind the legions of experts who've offered to testify for free, or the fact that the computer in question was never even analyzed by an independent expert before Amero's trial. Mrs. Amero got pwned in the truest sense of the word. She faces sentencing on March 3rd.

The only thing that can save Julie Amero now is the uncertainty of a lengthy appeals process, or a pardon from Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell. Connecticut's Board of Pardons and Paroles.

I've written Governor Rell, (politely) asking that she speak independently with any number of the available experts (or even read a short article from Harvard's Ben Edelman) and then use that information to make the right decision; Issue a pardon of Julie Amero. Now it's your turn. Take 5 minutes out of your day and do what you can to keep Julie Amero from serving jail-time for falling victim to malware! Think for one minute about the last time you answered a ridiculously simple computer question for a computer-noob relative, and of how a concept so simple for you was so mind boggling for them. Your five minutes meant a lot, didn't it? In this case, that same five minutes could save Julie Amero from jail.