“I was once told that the only way I would be reunited with my family as a corpse,” Alice Johnson powerfully recounted in her speech at the Republican National Convention last week. “But through the grace of God and the love and compassion of President Donald John Trump, I stand before you tonight and I assure you, I am not a ghost. I am alive, I am whole and most importantly, I am free.”
But she was about to become ever more free. The following day, she was issued a full pardon from Trump.
Here’s a little more about Johnson’s story, which she talked about in what was regarded as the convention’s most powerful speeches.
Johnson was serving a life sentence for trafficking information about drugs over the phone even though she was a first offender, mother of six, and grandmother. Why did she receive such a harsh sentence for a nonviolent drug crime? This very long sentence came from a 1986 drug act that stiffened penalties for drug offenses and disproportionately affected black people.
The act was written and co-sponsored by Joe Biden. During her imprisonment, she petitioned the Barack Obama administration for clemency, but her requests were turned down three times.
Then, after a couple of decades in jail, reality television star Kim Kardashian became aware of Johnson’s unjustly long imprisonment through a video that Johnson recorded and put online. She reached out to her legal team who then reached out to President Trump. On June 6, 2018, Trump commuted her sentence, freeing Johnson.
No wonder she was so happy to express her gratitude to President Trump at the convention!
The NY Post transcribed some of Trump’s comments on Johnson.
“We said, how many people are there like you? There’s only one Alice, as far as I’m concerned. But how many people are like you or your circumstance, where they were given a massive sentence and they’re good people, great people? And she said, ‘So many. They’re in jail. So many.’ And she’s looking for those people. And she’s recommending those people. We’ve already done some… and they’ve done really well since they’ve been out.”
Johnson is dedicated to freeing the many others like her whose freedom is being taken by Biden’s unjust legislation. One of the ways she’s doing is? She is a senior fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Right on Crime initiative.
Johnson recently appeared on CNN where she said she hopes Trump is reelected so she can continue to work with him on issues of criminal justice reform.
Congratulations, Alice!
Image Credit: White House Instagram