VIDEO: Kim Kardashian Announces Ride-Share Program for Former Prisoners at White House
By Shawnie Hamer
Kim Kardashian is becoming a regular guest at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Kardashian spoke at the White House yesterday, announcing a new ride-share agreement with Lyft that will provide former prisoners with gift cards to use for transportation to job interviews, work, and to visit family.
The reality star has been working with President Donald Trump on the Second Chance Hiring initiative, which helps formerly incarcerated people get jobs. Kardashian has met with Trump several times to talk about criminal justice reform issues, and successfully lobbied him to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving life without parole for a first time drug offense.
Kardashian thanked Trump for his support, and explained, “The ultimate goal is everyone wants the community to be safe. And the more opportunity that … they [ex-prisoners] have, and the support we help give them, the safer everyone will be.”
Kardashian has also been financially supporting the Buried Alive Project, ran by lawyers Brittany K. Barnett and MiAngel Cody. In 90 days, the two lawyers freed 17 people from life sentences with the help of Kardashian’s financial backing.
Kardashian has been so inspired by her prison reform activism that she has announced she is studying law.
But even without a law degree, she is making great strides in the work. USA Today reports that White House officials and Kardashian have been working on the First Step Act, signed into law late last year, which makes sure that prisoners released early have the tools they need to succeed and mentally adjust to life outside prison. Reportedly, more than 1,000 federal inmates have had their sentences shortened because of the legislation.
We're proud to see Kardashian fight for something so important to her, and to countless other people.