On Wednesday, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time non-violent offender who was sentenced to life in prison for drug charges. Marie Johnson, a 63 year old great-grandmother, has already served nearly 22 years in prison, where she has been described as a model prisoner, and a mentor to fellow inmates.
In a White House statement, the Trump Administrations commitment to be tough on crime was reassured, but it was also noted that the Administration believes that those who have paid their debt to society deserve a second chance.
This momentous event can likely be credited to a meeting that President Trump had with Kim Kardashian West at the White House last week. After the meeting, Kardashian stated that she was hopeful that President Trump would consider granting clemency to Marie Johnson. After news broke of his decision, she thanked President Trump, along with his son in law and senior advisor Jared Kushner.
After news broke of the decision, Kardashian West also Tweeted that she was the first to inform Marie Johnson of it.
The road to clemency for Marie Johnson was a long one. She attempted to gain clemency during while former President Barack Obama was in office. Despite asking him directly in a CNN op-ed, and gathering over 100,000 petitions, Obama did not grant her clemency while in office.
This latest move is in step with a recent decision to grant a pardon to to Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion. Johnson was convicted of the crime of transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. In other words, he was convicted for marrying a white woman.
With President Trump’s commitment to giving non-violent prisoners a second chance, many on the right are asking for Trump to pardon Matthew Charles. Charles was arrested similarly to Alice Marie Johnson, on drug charges many years ago. Charles was given a second chance after having his sentence shortened, but was sent back to prison as a federal appeals court decided he shouldn’t have been freed to begin with.
Matthew Charles is another case of someone was was rehabilitated, yet the law is forcing him to sit through an unreasonable long sentence for the crime originally committed.