The St. Lou Jew helps free the innocent: Connie Keel Update

Connie Keel, whose unjust imprisonment we wrote about, has been freed!

Governor Schwartzenegger's decision was influenced, in large part, by
a media campaign started on twitter and spread across a large number
of newspapers and blogs, including The St. Lou Jew.

Two Living Jews who played a large part in the success of this effort were Adam Reich, whose advocacy on behalf of Connie we covered, and Elliot Darvick, both of whom called St. Louis home for their undergraduate education.

While The St. Lou Jew takes minimal credit for being one of the first to break this story, I think it is important to note the efficacy of this social media campaign. Over a relatively short period of time, the sustained effort of tweeting, posting to facebook and reaching out to media contacts generated a critical mass of interest and letters to the Governor, urging him to examine the facts of the case.

There have been several recent reports on Mashable as to the intersection of social media and charity, and Obama's web presence was a huge boon to the organizational strength of his campaign, but Freeconnie.com represents a small group of committed individuals spreading the word effectively to make a difference.

Congratulations to Connie Keel on being a free woman, and thank you to Adam Reich and Elliot Darvick for heading the call, "Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof" (Justice, Justice, shall you pursue), and exemplifying the meaning of being a Living Jew.

Shabbat Shalom!