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August 28, 2020
Has anyone sentenced to life without parole ever before spoken on final night of major political convention?
The question in the title of this post is prompted, of course, by Alice Marie Johnson having the chance to tell her story during the final night of the Republican National Convention. I was on the road, so I missed the speech live, but PBS has it available via YouTube at this link. And here is a round-up of just some media coverage of what seems like a historic speech:
Via BuzzFeed News, "Alice Johnson, Whose Sentence Was Commuted By Trump, Gave An Uplifting Speech About Criminal Justice Reform At The RNC"
Via CNN, "Alice Johnson shares powerful redemption story at RNC"
From The Hill, "Alice Johnson praises Trump for First Step Act, urges compassion for 'forgotten faces'"
Via Yahoo Entertainment, "Former Inmate Alice Johnson, Championed by Kim Kardashian & Freed by Trump, Urges More Change at RNC"
I am often quite discouraged these days about both the state of our nation and the state of our politics. But here is hoping that we can all find some joy and inspiration in this one story to keep moving (and move faster) on badly needed reform to all our criminal justice systems in incarceration nation.
August 28, 2020 at 12:03 PM | Permalink