President Donald Trump’s advisers are considering Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a drug conviction when the president commuted her sentence during his first term, to be the “pardon czar,” the New York Times reports. It is not immediately clear what the role would entail, and her position has not been finalized, but Johnson, at the end of Trump’s first term, said she wanted to work on behalf of people she believed should be considered for clemency. Her commutation and subsequent potential appointment show how Trump’s approach to criminal justice reform is rife with contradictions. He signed the bipartisan First Step Act, which aimed to reduce prison sentences for certain nonviolent drug crimes, during his first term, then told advisers privately soon afterward that he regretted it, according to multiple officials working with him at the time.
Johnson’s case was originally brought to Trump’s attention by Kim Kardashian, and was seen as an example of draconian sentencing laws that disproportionately affected nonviolent offenders, particularly women and members of minority communities. After her commutation, she has become a vocal supporter of the president — leading some of his advisors to see her as politically beneficial. During the 2020 presidential race, the Trump campaign featured her in a Super Bowl ad in an effort to reach Black voters. In a November 2024 television interview, Johnson said that after her release she personally submitted over 100 petitions to the White House after Trump asked her to compile a list of people she believed deserved clemency.
“I’m so blessed to be free myself,” she said. “The work continues. I can’t help but advocate for people who are incarcerated, because I’m really one of them. I’m just a free one of them.”
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