TL;DR: Sign a petition to help clear an innocent man's name.

A dear friend of mine had a terrible tragedy happen in her family. Her brother, another friend of mine, was falsely accused of raping a girl. The details behind the event are long, but the short story is that he came home and went to bed (he lived in a frathouse) and a girl he sort of knew was lying in his bed. Not one to question good fortune (although, in hindsight, he should have), he crawled into bed with her. After a while, things started getting heated. The furthest they got was him fingering her, before she changed her mind and told him no. So, he stopped, and got out of the bed.

The girl regretted it, and filed rape charges against him. After a lengthy court battle, he was found guilty -- despite no DNA proof, no rape kit, nothing. Pennsylvania courts are apparently real shitty and trying rape cases. He was sentenced to five years in jail. His family has started a petition to the governor in hopes to get John pardoned and a be given a retrial in an attempt to prove his innocence. They need signatures.

John is a good guy. He's not the brightest, or the most charming, but goddamnit he'd go out of his way to do anything for anyone -- friend or stranger. He's got a caring family who are dying inside as he rots in a jail cell for something he didn't do, and a loving girlfriend who's doing her best to hold herself together for his sake.

You don't know him, so you have no obligation to sign it. Hell, you don't even know if the things I'm telling you about him are true. But I figured if there was one place to go to help get him even five extra signatures, it would be here.

To sign the petition, go here.

This is a self post, so I get no karma for it. Whether you sign it or not, I ask that you upvote it so people can see. Thanks, guys.