Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project follows four new cases in which the reality star advocates for their release
Kim Kardashian West has been vocal about prison reform for a while now, beginning with her involvement in the high-profile freeing of Alice Marie Johnson, which took her to the White House. Now, the reality star has unveiled the trailer for her new documentary Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project, a two-hour documentary film that centres on the criminal justice system in the United States.
Premiering on Oxygen April 5, the documentary will follow Kim K as she attempts to “secure freedom for Americans who she believes have been wronged by the justice system”, including Dawn Jackson, Alexis Martin, Momolu Stewart, and David Sheppard. She also co-produces the doc.
Alice Johnson, a woman whose sentence was commuted after a campaign by Kardashian West, in which the reality star met with Donald Trump, features in the beginning. Johnson had served 21 years of a life sentence and previously had no possibility for parole for a nonviolent, first time drug offense. “Kim went to war for me,” she says in the clip. Her triumph with Alice Johnson led to a slew of letters from women and men in similar positions, and spurred Kim to study criminal law and pursue other cases. “I went into this knowing nothing, and then my heart completely opened up,” she shares.
Out of the four cases documented, two will focus on a sex trafficking victim and a woman who murdered the family member who molested her. Kardashian West advocates for change by travelling to prisons where the inmates are being held, talking to them, their families and friends, and then lobbying public officials, and consulting with their attorneys as well as her own to secure their freedom.
“There are millions of people impacted by this broken justice system, and I wanted to put faces to these numbers and statistics,” Kim says.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the US holds up to 25 per cent of the global prison population, with “one out of every three Black boys born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime.”
She continued: “There are a lot of people who deserve a second chance, but many do not have the resources to make it happen. I want to help elevate these cases to a national level to effect change, and this documentary is an honest depiction of me learning about the system and helping bring tangible results to justice reform.”
While speaking recently to press at the Television Critics Association, Kardashian West spoke of her frustrations at not being taken seriously as she pursues a law career. “No, I’m not doing it for publicity. I really do care, and spend 20 hours a week away from my family and my kids.”
“I’m raising four black children that could face a situation like any of the people that I help,” she continued. “Just to know I can make a difference in my children’s lives and (other people’s) by helping fix a broken system, that’s so motivating for me.”
She is now studying to take the bar in 2022.
Watch the trailer for Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project below, set to drop April 5 on Oxygen.