i certainly think exceptions CAN be made for cases such as this

let the woman read her son's emails on breaks and at lunch (at work). after all not only is he fighting for the state of connecticut, HE'S FIGHTING FOR HIS NATION (well you know what i mean.)

State policy clamps down on mom's correspondence with soldier son

November 11, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. --With her son deployed with the military in Afghanistan, Sheila Chunis finds peace of mind with each e-mail he sends her.
It's a cyber chat she looks forward to every day. Because of the 10-hour time difference, she's at her work computer about the same time he comes off duty and sends her a message.
But Chunis, an employee at the state Department of Social Service, has been threatened with disciplinary action if she continues to read her son's e-mails on state time because of a government policy on computer use.
"I feel like he's a member of the state militia, and in effect a state employee, so why can't I send him an e-mail?" Chunis said.
She has a home computer, but she finds it difficult to wait all day to read her son's e-mails because she is concerned about him.
The policy, which took effect in May, arose from a scandal that saw one administrator fired and five Veterans Affairs employees investigated for improper use of state computers.
It prohibits state workers from accessing private e-mail accounts on the Internet while at work. Employees, however, are allowed to open e-mail messages from their children's teachers and message back and forth with co-workers to plan social events.
Chunis said she constantly worries about her son, Andrew, a corporal in a Manchester-based Connecticut Army National Guard unit. He's been overseas since March and is not expected back until next April. But seeing that morning e-mail each day lifts her anxiety........

Tech Tags: sheila+chunis connecticut afghanistan national+guard email