Kim Kardashian West Plans To Continue Prison Reform Efforts, Regardless of Who Is President – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Kim Kardashian West may be extremely busy filming Keeping Up With the Kardashians, but the hit E! series isn’t the only thing in life she’s focused on these days.

In addition to her reality show, her makeup brand, KKW Beauty, and her shapewear line, SKIMS, Kardashian West has been busy advocating for prison reform and helping to change the correctional system in the United States.

So far, the reality star has been responsible for freeing several inmates who were wrongfully convicted from jail and intends to keep working with the White House on prison reform, regardless of who becomes the next President.

Kim Kardashian West started working on prison reform in 2017

Kardashian West’s work with prison reform began in the fall of 2017. While scrolling through Twitter one night, she came across the story of Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother serving a life sentence in prison for nonviolent drug charges.

After watching the video about Johnson’s case, Kardashian West immediately shared the story with her millions of Twitter followers but felt there was still more she needed to do.

While speaking with Time in April 2020, the reality star revealed that Johnson’s story was a “huge eye opener.”

“That someone who was a phone mule [received] a harsher sentence than Charles Manson made absolutely no sense to me,” she said. “It just really broke my heart, and I just wanted to help her. Because [I knew] I could.”

Learning of Johnson’s case was somewhat of a light-bulb moment for Kardashian West, and soon, she began working on prison reform with lawyers and advocacy groups.

After realizing that Johnson could be freed through a presidential pardon, Kardashian West used her connections to reach out to the White House. She eventually got in contact with Ivanka Trump to discuss the situation.

“I called Ivanka and we had a really great conversation about women and wanting to help each other,” the mom of four said during a 2018 interview with Today. “I knew that she would’ve understood Alice. She immediately was so receptive and so great.”

Trump then put Kardashian West in contact with her husband, Jared Kushner, who instantly took an interest in the case, and together, they brought it to the President.

Kim Kardashian West is now studying to become a lawyer

In 2018, Kardashian West met with President Donald Trump to discuss Johnson’s case. After she persuaded him to support the First Step Act, which helps nonviolent offenders receive leniency, President Trump granted Johnson clemency.

Since she successfully helped Johnson get released from prison, Kardashian West soon realized that she would like to do more than just bring attention to people’s stories.

In April 2019, she revealed to Vogue that she was studying to become a lawyer with an accredited law firm in San Franciso instead of attending law school.

View this post on Instagram

Last year I registered with the California State Bar to study law. For the next 4 years, a minimum of 18 hours a week is required, I will take written and multiple choice tests monthly. As my first year is almost coming to an end I am preparing for the baby bar, a mini version of the bar, which is required when studying law this way. I’ve seen some comments from people who are saying it’s my privilege or my money that got me here, but that’s not the case. One person actually said I should “stay in my lane.” I want people to understand that there is nothing that should limit your pursuit of your dreams, and the accomplishment of new goals. You can create your own lanes, just as I am. The state bar doesn’t care who you are. This option is available to anyone who’s state allows it. It’s true I did not finish college. You need 60 college credits (I had 75) to take part in “reading the law”, which is an in office law school being apprenticed by lawyers. For anyone assuming this is the easy way out, it’s not. My weekends are spent away from my kids while I read and study. I work all day, put my kids to bed and spend my nights studying. There are times I feel overwhelmed and when I feel like I can’t do it but I get the pep talks I need from the people around me supporting me. I changed my number last year and disconnected from everyone because I have made this strict commitment to follow a dream of mine – It’s never too late to follow your dreams. I want to thank Van Jones for believing in me and introducing me to Jessica Jackson. Jessica along with Erin Haney have taken on the role of my mentors and I am forever grateful to them both putting in so much time with me, believing in me and supporting me through this journey. This week I have a big torts essay due on negligence. Wish me luck ✨⚖️

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Apr 15, 2019 at 8:40am PDT

Under the supervision of her two mentor lawyers, Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney, Kardashian West studies eighteen hours a week in preparation to take the bar exam in 2022.

The reality star will continue advocating for prison reform ‘no matter who is President’

Since announcing her plans to become a lawyer, Kardashian West has been taking her apprenticeship very seriously and intends to keep working on her law studies as well as her prison reform efforts no matter what.

Though she currently has a lot on her plate being a mom, wife, famous reality star, and savvy businesswoman, the KUWTK star plans to continue working with the White House to free even more people from prison — regardless of who takes on the role of President in the upcoming election.

“She’s saying that no matter who is president, she is planning on working closely with them in DC to fight criminal justice and prison reform,” an insider recently told HollywoodLife. “She doesn’t care who’s in office for her to work with, she just wants to really help people and do the right thing and she feels she can work with anybody. She knows she has the power to do that.”