Kim Kardashian has been the face of reality television for the past 11 years. And lately, we’ve never seen her happier, funnier, or business-minded — and her motherhood glow is on point. Sixteen months ago, she took on the role of a cosmetics CEO with KKW Beauty, and watched her bank account increase by $350 million. As of late, Kardashian’s been taking a stand in the high-strung and ongoing criminal justice debate, and people are listening.
The socialite and businesswoman turned to Twitter Sunday (Oct. 7) to ask California’s Governor Jerry Brown to look into the case Kevin Cooper, an inmate at San Quentin, a maximum-security correctional facility located approximately six hours outside of Los Angeles.
Kardashian says she became privy to Cooper’s case after reading a recent New York Times article called “Justice Delayed, With a Life on the Line.” The article breaks down Cooper’s case, beginning with his arrest in 1983. The write-up asks readers to “imaging being framed for a horrific crime: the fatal stabbing of a married couple and two children. You then spend 35 years in prison awaiting execution for that quadruple murder.”
The article, penned by opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof, continued by telling its readers to “imagine that you’re a Black man and that the trial was tainted by the ugliest racism. Meanwhile, federal judges and F.B.I. investigators cite evidence that the real killer is a white convicted murderer who came home late on the night of the murders in bloody coveralls, but when his girlfriend reported him to the authorities, the police took the bloody coveralls and threw them away.”
Governor Brown, please add Kevin Cooper to your legacy of smart, fair and thoughtful criminal justice reforms. https://t.co/OzhZIWdxWL
After reading this in-depth look in Kevin Cooper, Kim publicly tweeted Gov. Jerry Brown, and asked him to “please add Kevin Cooper to your legacy of smart, fair and thoughtful criminal justice reforms.”
TMZ reports Kardashian is hoping Gov. Brown will make “Kevin Cooper part of his recent criminal justice legacy before he leaves office in January.”
Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to respond, but it may just be a matter of time because this isn’t her first bout in prison reform.
Kim met with White House officials regarding a 63-year-old grandmother and former inmate named Alice Marie Johnson earlier this year. Johnson was serving a life sentence in federal prison for committing a non-violent drug crime. Thanks to KKW’s efforts, Trump commuted Johnson’s sentence and she now lives as a free woman for the first time since 1993.
Who knows if Kim’s recent interest in criminal justice will bring on an additional career path for her, but anything can happen with the results she’s been landing.
In addition to Cooper and Johnson, the multi-million-dollar mogul met with Donald Trump for the second time this year — this time to discuss the release of a man named Chris Young, a 30-year-old prisoner who’s serving a life sentence in Tennessee for cocaine and marijuana possession. Young has served just under 10 years of his sentence, but prays he doesn’t have to do 10 more if things go his way.
Kim met with Trump; Jared Kushner son-in-law and senior advisor to Donald Trump; Van Jones, political commentator and author; and Judge Kevin Sharp, who sentenced Young to prison.
Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley addressed Kim’s visit, saying, “Today at the White House, members of the Administration are hosting a listening session about the clemency process. The discussion is mainly focused on ways to improve that process to ensure deserving cases receive a fair review.”
