LOS ANGELES — It’s been five years since Alice Marie Johnson was released early from her life in prison sentence after she was granted clemency, thanks to help from Kim Kardashian.
Since then, Johnson has dedicated her life to paying her freedom forward, advocating for clemency and pardons for over 100 people through her organization called Taking Action For Good.
What You Need To Know
- Growing up in Mississippi, Alice Johnson always pictured herself as a Hollywood writer, dreaming of one day making it big in the City of Angels
- She was convicted and sentenced to life plus 25 years in federal prison for what she calls a minor involvement in a drug conspiracy
- But even when those prison bars slammed shut, Alice refused to lose hope.
- She immediately started helping the other inmates, advocating for new programs and access to education for women with life sentences — and her success garnered lots of attention
Growing up in Mississippi, Johnson always pictured herself as a Hollywood writer, dreaming of one day making it big in the City of Angels.
In some ways, she has, though her journey here would give even the best of TV writers a run for their money.
“I had to come to this reality that I am about to go to prison. [I] didn’t even know what a jail looked like,” Johnson explained.
This was back in 1996. Johnson had just been convicted and sentenced to life, plus 25 years in federal prison for what she calls a minor involvement in a drug conspiracy.
Johnson says she was shocked by her sentence as a first-time, nonviolent offender and single mother of five, who was just desperate to make ends meet.
“I had just divorced, I’m in financial trouble, my life is literally spiraling out of control and then my youngest son was killed in a scooter accident," she remembered.
But even when those prison bars slammed shut, Johnson refused to lose hope.
She immediately started helping the other inmates, advocating for new programs and access to education for women with life sentences.
Her success garnered the attention of social justice organizations and eventually found its way onto Kim Kardashian’s Twitter timeline. Kardashian immediately started working to get Johnson freed, meeting with then-President Donald Trump, who would ultimately grant Johnson clemency.
Since then, Johnson has dedicated her life to Taking Action for Good, an organization she launched to give the same second chance to others like Michael Harris, also known as Harry-O.
He was behind bars for drug trafficking for decades, using that time to mentor others in and out of prison as the co-founder of Death Row Records.
When Johnson heard about his positive impact, she was relentless in her pursuit to set him free.
Johnson is now celebrating five years of freedom alongside her friends, family and Kardashian, who she calls her war angel.
She is now considered a catalyst for the First Step Act, the most significant criminal justice legislation in recent history.