‘My Reputation Over Someone’s Life?’: Kim Kardashian Couldn’t Care Less About What Working With Trump Did To Her Image

'I’m just about doing the right thing'

President Trump pardons Alice Marie Johnson, an inspiration and advocate for criminal justice reform



President Donald Trump granted a full pardon Friday to Alice Marie Johnson, a woman who served over 21 years in prison for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense, NBC News reported.

Johnson, whose sentence President Trump commuted in 2018, spoke during the Republican National Convention on Thursday night about how the president's decision to give her a second chance at freedom changed her life.

"You have been fully pardoned," President Trump told Johnson on Friday at the White House, as Johnson wiped away tears of joy. "That's the ultimate thing that can happen. It means you can do whatever you want in life. Just keep doing the great job you're doing. We're very proud of Alice and the job you've done."

Johnson's story was one of the driving forces leading President Trump to advocate for passage of the First Step Act, the bipartisan criminal justice reform law that eased some of the harsh sentencing guidelines. Johnson's own harsh sentence was made possible by a 1986 drug law, which was co-authored by then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).

Johnson was convicted of attempted possession of cocaine, conspiracy to possess cocaine, and money laundering for her role in a cocaine trafficking operation in Memphis. In 1997, she was given a life sentence without parole, and an additional 25 years.

During her prison sentence, she was a model citizen and grew into a mentor for other women. She was granted the opportunity to speak by video from prison to Ivy League students and corporate executives, bringing her story to the public eye.

Kim Kardashian West saw video of Johnson's story and began advocating for Johnson's release through her own lawyer and White House adviser Jared Kushner. Former President Barack Obama rejected Johnson's request for clemency three times.

Johnson has said that she got involved with drug dealing because she lost her job and needed to provide for her children, and regrets it as the "worst decision of her life."

"Free in body thanks to President Trump, but free in mind thanks to the Almighty God," Johnson said Thursday night. "I couldn't believe it. I always remembered that God knew my name even in my darkest hour, but I never thought a president would."

With the pardon, Johnson regains her right to vote ahead of the 2020 election.

Alice Marie Johnson praises President Trump for granting her 'a second chance' in powerful RNC speech



Alice Marie Johnson — a nonviolent offender who was granted clemency by President Donald Trump in 2018 after serving 21 years in prison — expressed her gratitude to the president for giving her "a second chance" in a moving speech to the Republican National Convention on Thursday night.

What are the details?

"I was once told that the only way I would ever be reunited with my family would be as a corpse," Ms. Johnson began after introducing herself. "But by the grace of God, and the compassion of President Donald John Trump, I stand before you — and I assure you, I am not a ghost."

She continued, "I am alive, I am well, and most importantly, I am free."

Johnson went on to express how she felt after being released from her life sentence after it was commuted by President Trump, when she was able to hug her grandchildren for the first time. But she said her time in prison was not wasted, pointing to her "extraordinary" transformation and faith in God's plan for her life.

"When President Trump heard about me — about the injustice of my story — he saw me as a person," Johnson said. "He had compassion, and he acted."

"Free in body thanks to President Trump, but free in mind thanks to the Almighty God," she told the audience. "I couldn't believe it. I always remembered that God knew my name even in my darkest hour, but I never thought a president would."

Alice Johnson Full Speech at RNC 2020 www.youtube.com

Johnson's story was brought to President Trump's attention by reality star and criminal justice reform activist Kim Kardashian West, after President Barack Obama rejected Johnson's request for clemency three times.

Six months after Johnson's release, President Trump signed the bipartisan First Step Act. Fox News reported that the "law gives federal judges more leeway when sentencing some drug offenders and boosts prisoner rehabilitation efforts. It also reduces life sentences for some drug offenders with three convictions, or 'three strikes,' to 25 years."

Anything else?

According to the New York Post, "Johnson would never have been sentenced to life in prison if not for a 1986 drug abuse act written by then-Sen. Joe Biden that stiffened penalties for drug offenses and disproportionately targeted black people."

The outlet noted that Johnson "has previously recounted how she took to drug dealing as a way to provide for her children after losing her job and has described the move as 'the worst decision of my life.'"

Fox noted that she is now a criminal justice reform advocate and a senior fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Right on Crime initiative.