Following a meeting with Kim Kardashian West last month where the pair discussed prison reform, President Donald Trump has granted clemency to a great-grandmother serving life in prison.
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As initially reported by Axios, on Wednesday morning, Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman who's been serving a life sentence for a nonviolent, first-time drug offense. According to the AP, Johnson was released from federal prison on Wednesday.
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Kardashian West became a public advocate for Johnson at the end of 2017 when she stumbled upon a video published by Mic that tells the woman's story.。
SEE ALSO:Black Lives Matter reveals a six-point plan to combat systemic racism。
Johnson has been in an Alabama federal prison since 1996, according to Mic, which began reporting on Johnson in 2013. 。
Kardashian West says Mic's story inspired her to get involved, tapping her own team of lawyers to help Johnson.。
"If you think about a decision that you’ve made in your life and you get life without the possibility of parole for your first-time nonviolent offense, there’s just something so wrong with that,” Kim told Mic in May.。
"Where I’m at in my life right now, just like, to go and spend my money buying material things just doesn’t satisfy me the way that it used to," she said in the interview. "To save someone’s life and do that once a year, then that would make [my] heart fuller."。
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Her efforts led to her meeting with Trump at the White House on May 30. On Wednesday, Kim tweeted news of the president's decision.。
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"So grateful to Donald Trump, Jared Kushner & to everyone who has showed compassion & contributed countless hours to this important moment for Ms. Alice Marie Johnson," Kardashian West tweeted following the announcement. "Her commutation is inspirational & gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance."。
She also explained in a tweet that she hopes to work with "organizations who have been fighting this fight for much longer" and "deserve the recognition."。
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Kardashian West also revealed that she spoke to Johnson on Wednesday. 。
"The phone call I just had with Alice will forever be one of my best memories," she wrote on Twitter. "Telling her for the first time and hearing her screams while crying together is a moment I will never forget."。
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One of Johnson's attorneys, Brittany K. Barnett, released the following statement on Wednesday afternoon:
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“Justice has been served today, and it’s long overdue. Alice has more than paid her debt to society by serving over 21 years of a life-without-parole sentence as a nonviolent drug offender. Life in prison without the possibility of parole screams that a person is beyond hope, beyond redemption. And in Alice’s case, it is a punishment that absolutely did not fit the crime. President Trump saved Alice Johnson’s life today. We are extremely grateful and hope the President continues to use his clemency power to save lives.” This isn't Kardashian West's first time advocating for incarcerated women.。
The reality star and entrepreneur tweeted in November that she consulted her legal team about Cyntoia Brown, a 29-year-old woman who was arrested for killing a man who sexually abused her when she was a teenage victim of trafficking.。
UPDATE: June 6, 2018, 4:26 p.m. PDT。
This post has been updated to include Kardashian West's statements via Twitter about Johnson, a statement from Johnson's attorney, and to report that Johnson has officially been released from prison.
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