Imagine for a moment that you are 24 years old, just starting out your life in the real world. You just wanted to have a good time like everybody else. You just wanted to dance, maybe have a drink, and socialize. So, you head down to the club trying to find relief from a stressful week. Now, imagine that you walk outside in search of your friends. You don’t find your friends. Actually, they are nowhere to be found at all. Instead, you only find FIVE cruel attackers who don’t care if they beat you to the brink of death. They don’t care about the family who will miss you, they don’t care about your three year old daughter waiting for you at home, and they don’t care about her mother who will have to raise her alone. They are hungry for blood. What you also find is yourself, sitting in a courtroom, trying to plead your case to deaf ears.
  In this country, we have every right to defend ourselves against situations like the one described above. The reason for this right is so we can make sure we get to come home to our families at night, safe and sound, without worrying if we will be locked in a cage and treated like animals for protecting ourselves. My father, Clarence Gibbs, was defending himself when he delivered a (non fatal) gunshot wound to one of his five attackers in the arm. He was sentenced to 42 years to life and has already served 18 years in prison. He may not have been killed, but he still lost his life. He has missed out on my life and is now missing out on his granddaughter’s life as well.

  The purpose of this petition is to call on California Governor, Gavin Newsom to do what is fair and right and what should have been done long ago. As the governor of California, he has the power to grant my father a commutation of sentence. This will allow for his sentence to be greatly reduced and for his freedom to finally be granted. Please aid me in this quest to bring my father home! Thank you for your time.