Donald Trump commutes sentence after appeal from Kim Kardashian West
Washington — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the life sentence of a woman for a first-time drug offence whose cause was taken up by celebrity Kim Kardashian West, and he is prepared to use his constitutional clemency powers to give relief to dozens more convicts, a White House source said. Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old from Tennessee, has already served more than 20 years in prison on drug conspiracy and money-laundering charges. Johnson "has been a model prisoner over the past two decades", White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said in a statement. Sanders said that while "this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance." While Johnson was deserving of clemency, the manner in which her case was brought to Trump’s attention was unprecedented and raises fairness concerns, said Margaret Love, a lawyer who formerly served ...
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