Signatures are still coming in! We're gaining momentum. We got this email today:
Hi Donna --
Hope you're doing well. My name is Mike, and I work at Change.org alongside my colleagues Ben and Amanda (cc'd on this email).
Yesterday we saw the petition you started calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to re-sentence Darren Robinson. This is such a powerful story, and another example of how our criminal justice policies in this country impact real people all across so many communities.
I wanted to let you know that today we're sharing your petition over our email list with some of our users. My hope is that you continue to see a couple hundred signatures (or more!) come in on the petition from users who care deeply about criminal justice reform and are moved by Darren's story.
Do you know if Governor Newsom has ever commented on Darren's case or if there's been any developments since you started the petition that's led to any media taking note of Darren's story? No worries either way, but figured it would be good to ask since sometimes around this year, governors are more apt to consider clemency/commutation type requests.
Thanks so much, Donna! I really appreciate you starting this petition and already giving several hundred folks a way to take action on Darren's story.
Take care,
Mike
The answer is that we haven't yet approached Gov. Newsom. We need a strong petition with numbers in the thousands before we do. Our next steps are to let media outlets hear about Darren's story and interview him. Media coverage is essential. Also, we need to get at least one celebrity on board. We're looking for people now. If you know anyone, please contact them and fill them in. Also, if you have twitter, please tweet the link to Darren's petition and the hashtag #FreeDarrenRobinson to every highly visible person you can think of. The petition's link is:
WE CAN DO THIS!!