Alice Marie Johnson Has Been Speaking Out For Reform Since Kim K Advocated Her Release
If there is anything we all can agree on, it's that Alice Marie Johnson's release from prison was one of the most notable stories of 2018. Johnson, who had spent more than 20 years of a life sentence behind bars for a non-violent drug crime, attracted national attention after reality star Kim Kardashian caught wind of her story and (successfully) advocated for her release. But it's been more than six months since then, and things have gone pretty quiet, which prompts the question: where is Alice Marie Johnson now?
For now, she's seemingly taking some "me time" back at home, that's where. A few days after her June 7 release, Johnson told NBC-affiliate WMC 5 that she was resting at home in Memphis, Tennessee, trying to adjust and transition back to life as a free woman, and enjoying her time with her family. She also told the outlet she was gearing up to start a job doing administrative work at a local dentist office, expressing her hope to get into prison reform in between. "I hope I'll be able to work with even the White House on some things," she said.
But while her work might not have gotten to the White House just yet, that doesn't mean she's not speaking out. In an October opinion piece for Fox News, Johnson announced that she's "running and still fighting — not for my case, but for all those other deserving people behind bars who were left behind when President Obama left office," referencing Obama's presidential efforts to free inmates serving harsh sentences. And according to what appears to be an unverified personal Twitter page (followed by Kim K herself) for Johnson, she's actively advocating for criminal justice reform on social media.
Speaking of presidents, the latest episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashian's, which aired on Dec. 9, gave a closer look at Kardashian's famous May 30 meeting with President Donald Trump, in which she asked him to grant Johnson clemency. In the episode, she told cameras that Jared Kushner was instrumental in bringing the meeting to fruition after she tried reaching out to Ivanka Trump first to plead Johnson's case. “I just felt like as a woman she would really feel for this woman the way that I connected with Alice,” Kardashian said, per The Washington Post.
The episode also documented Kardashian's visit to the newly-freed Johnson in Memphis on June 13 — a week after she was granted clemency by Trump — during which the two gushed and expressed their admiration for each other.
It was the first time the two met face-to-face since the beauty mogul first caught wind of Johnson's case in 2017, after a video produced by Mic which detailed her case went viral on social media. In the video, Johnson explained she'd been in jail since 1996, sentenced to life without parole for a nonviolent drug offense.
In the video, Johnson says:
I had been in management for 10 years. When I lost my job I struggled financially. I couldn't find a job fast enough to take care of my family. I felt like a failure. And out of desperation I made one of the worst decisions of my life to make some quick money. I became involved in a drug conspiracy.
In a 2016 article she penned for CNN, Johnson acknowledged her mistakes and admitted she was "wrong," which apparently factored into the decision to have her released from prison.
So to summarize: since being released from prison, Johnson has found a friend in Kim Kardashian and an exciting new gig, and she's surrounded by the love of her family and friends. Sounds like the perfect end to an utterly dramatic tale. Best of luck to her going forward.
