Kim Kardashian returns to White House urging clemency for life sentence inmate

Reality TV star meets senior White House aides for summit on prison reform

Kim Kardashian has returned to the White House for a meeting with senior Trump administration aides over criminal justice reform.

The reality television star, who successfully lobbied the president earlier this year to grant a pardon to a drug offender, participated in a listening session on clemency and prison reform.

The event was attended by West Wing staffers including Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner and his daughter Ivanka Trump.

However, Kardashian was arguably the biggest name involved in the talks, on what was her second visit to the White House in a matter of weeks.

During an Oval Office meeting with the president in May, the businesswoman pushed for a pardon for 63-year-old Alice Marie Johnson.

One week after Kardashian’s visit, Mr Trump granted Ms Johnson clemency, freeing her from prison after a more than two-decade stint on drug charges.

“When I looked at Alice, I said we can't just stop with one person. We have to change the laws,” Kardashian said in a statement released by (hash)cut50, a group that looks to reduce incarceration time.

The pardon for Ms Johnson was one of several instances where the president has used his constitutional power to pardon federal crimes.

Kardashian is now advocating for Chris Young, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole on drug and firearm-related charges after committing a third offence under the federal “three strikes” rule.

In 2014, Young received a life sentence from then-US district judge Kevin Sharp, who has since left the bench and has publicly opposed the mandatory minimum sentencing he was forced to hand down.

Speaking to the Wrongful Conviction podcast host Jason Flom on Tuesday, Kardashian said she would be advocating for Young during the White House meeting.

“It's so unfair. He's 30 years old,” she said. “He's been in for almost 10 years.”

Young had previously been arrested at both 18 and 19 on both felony and misdemeanour drug possessions charges.

For those two arrests combined, he had been slated to serve 14 years through community corrections.

“We are working to build support for prison reform, sentencing reform, and fair treatment of people coming home from prison,” said CNN commentator Van Jones, who also attended the conference.

“When you have prominent people like Kim helping voiceless people behind bars - like Chris Young who she is advocating for today - that's incredibly powerful.”

Additional reporting by AP