Kim Kardashian joins Kamala Harris, pardon recipients to discuss criminal justice reform
Reality television star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian joined Vice President Kamala Harris for a roundtable discussion on Thursday to discuss criminal justice reform and pardons recently issued by President Joe Biden.
The conversation included four recent pardon recipients -- Jason Hernandez, Bobby Darrell Lowery, Jesse Mosley, and Beverly Holcy -- and came a day after Biden granted clemency to 16 people.
In a statement, Biden said that April is Second Chance Month, and that he is using his clemency power to pardon 11 individuals and commute the sentences of five individuals who were convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.
"Many of these individuals received disproportionately longer sentences than they would have under current law, policy, and practice," Biden said in a statement.
According to a White House official, Biden has commuted the sentences of 122 individuals and granted pardons to 20 who committed non-violent drug offenses.
During her remarks, Harris showed her appreciation for Kardashian's advocacy and for "using your platform in a way that has really lifted up the importance of talking about and being dedicated to second chances."
Kardashian has been outspoken on the issue of criminal justice reform since 2018, when she spoke directly with former president Donald Trump and his son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, to push for the commutation of Alice Marie Johnson, who served 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense. In 2019, she returned to the White House to speak on an initiative aimed at helping former inmates receive jobs upon their release.
"I'm so honored to be here to continue this fight, to learn more every day, every visit, every administration," Kardashian said. "I'm just here to help and spread the word."
Harris recounted her efforts as the District Attorney of San Francisco and the Attorney General of California to reduce recidivism and provide reentry support.
"I'm a big believer in the power of redemption," Harris said. "Is it not the sign of a civil society that we allow people to earn their way back, and give them the support and resources they need to do that?"
Harris also touted the administration's finalization of a Small Business Administration rule that will remove restrictions on loan eligibility that are based on a person's criminal record.
"Making this available, reducing and eliminating that restriction is going to mean a lot in terms of second chances and the opportunity for people to excel," Harris said.
All four of the pardon recipients have started businesses and nonprofits or volunteered in their communities since their incarceration.
"Receiving my commutation and my pardon, it breathed life not only into me, but into my mother, into my father and also into my community," said Hernandez, a 47-year-old man who had been convicted of several non-violent drug offenses for conduct that began while he was still a juvenile.
Hernandez now runs a nonprofit that transformed a store -- the front of which he once used to sell drugs -- into a market that provides quality, affordable food, according to the White House.
Lowery -- a 50-year-old man who was convicted of a non-violent drug offense at the age of 25 -- said the pardon meant "we are hope for somebody else." Since his release, Lowery has actively volunteered at his church and at various community-based organizations, the White House said.
Kardashian said her involvement with the programs have been enriching.
"Every time I've gone and visited a prison, I've met some of the smartest individuals with the brightest ideas and to see the changes that are happening to make their reentry easier, I think, is going to be life changing and give so many people hope," Kardashian said.
