Kim Kardashian works with abused young women who faced unjust jail terms, new docu tells touching stories
Sometimes people who are handed down extensive jail terms, which range from several decades to life without parole are not hardened criminals but people who were forced to choose the wrong path because of the less-than-pleasant circumstances they faced from a young age. This is why considering a convict's history of abuse or drugs often plays a key role in determining what kind of sentence should be handed down to him or her.
Two-hour-long Oxygen documentary, 'Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project' that is set to premiere on April 5, at 7 pm ET, takes a look at cases where a disregard for a criminal's history led them to be awarded sentences which were harsh and shocking.
Kim Kardashian played an important role in helping commute the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for her involvement in a Memphis cocaine trafficking organization, despite being a first-time offender. After this, the 'Keeping Up With The Kardashian' star took a keen interest in the broken criminal reform system of the U.S. and began working with her lawyers and an organization called Cut50 ― that brings together leaders impacted by the criminal justice system with unlikely allies spanning the political divide to push for criminal justice solutions ― to address those who have been wronged by the justice system.
"I partnered with Oxygen... because there are millions of people impacted by this broken justice system and I want to put faces to these numbers and statistics," Kardashian said. "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."
Two of the cases which are discussed in the documentary are that of Dawn Jackson and Alexis Martin, both of whom had a tough childhood growing up.
Dawn Jackson
"Dawn Jackson's case makes you think like 'how long is too long?'" Kardashian says before the details of the case are revealed.
The reality star took interest in Jackson's case after she received a letter from her, which said, "Dear Ms. Kardashian West, during my early childhood, I was sexually abused, intimidated and coerced by certain male family members. My sexual abuse began at the age of five. I was molested repeatedly for many years by a total of six men. As a result of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, I took the life of my step-grandfather in what I believe was a necessary act to defend myself."
She went on to add that she was represented by a public defender who was "greatly ineffective" and who failed to present the underlying facts in the case. Jackson was charged with first-degree murder at the age of 27 in Woodland Hills, California and got 30 years behind bars.
At the age of five, she was molested by her mother's boyfriend. She went to live with her grandmother where she turned to drugs. Jackson overdosed on drugs and even tried to take her own life. At some point, she tried to deal with the trauma of abuse. But the mitigating evidence in Jackson's's case that might have helped her get a reduced sentence, was never presented in the court.
One of Jackson's daughters, Loreale Wilson, said that her mother's step-grandfather would give her money to buy drugs. On March 24, 1999, Jackson's step-grandfather tried to forcefully have sex with her. "She was into drugs really really bad. And grandad touched her, he touched in a certain area... Something snapped and she stabbed him."
Jackson was a mother-of-seven who spent 20 years behind the prison, being an ideal inmate, organizing therapy groups, furthering her education and working with women. Kardashian said that she was working with her lawyers to get Jackson the freedom she deserved.
Alexis Martin
Alexis Martin was arrested for aggravated murder at the age of 15. Kardashian went to meet Martin in Dayton, Ohio prison to hear her side of the story.
Just like Jackson, Martin's childhood was highly unstable. Her mother lost custody of Martin quite a few times. Her father was physically abusive toward her. Both her parents and step-father were involved in drugs and at some point, her mother even went to jail for drug trafficking. At the age of 11, Martin started babysitting and cutting grass to pay bills and for food.
She was molested by her stepfather and raped by an unnamed man from the age of nine to 11. Although it was his semen in her underwear, he was found not guilty by the court.
In her early teens, Martin got involved with a well-known drug dealer — Angelo Kerney — whom she called her 'dad.' After a year, he raped her and soon, began trafficking her for sex when she was 14. "He raped me and told me that I wasn't worthy of anything besides my body. He told me that nobody cared. I held no value but my body," Martin told Kardashian during their meeting.
When Martin refused to have sex or gratify the client's desires, Kerney would threaten to traffic her little sister, saying she was curvy and had hips so she would make better money.
With the hope of getting out of her ordeal, Martin made a plan with her friends to rob Kerney and use the money to get away from the place. Kerney and his brother were in the house with Martin and another woman when two men entered the house with the intention to rob the place. However, they ended up shooting and killing Kerney and injuring his brother, who was on top of Martin, having sex with her.
Noah Munyer, Martin's first lawyer said that when he got the case, he thought it would be an easy win. "We had a sympathetic defendant. She'd cooperate fully with law enforcement. This was a robbery that turned, based on the actions of other people than Miss Martin, into a murder case... the truth was much, much sadder. A 15-year-old girl who has had a very tough life. She had been assaulted, physically, sexually from age of nine or 10 forward. I think she had been to 13 or 14 different schools... her parents had substance abuse issues. It was just a volatile situation."
Although she was supposed to be tried as a juvenile, the prosecution painted her as a mastermind of robbery and murder and hence the state decided to send her to prison instead of a detention center. The state made the allegation that Martin had informed the two men that Kerney was in the house before the incident and also allegedly told them that there were things of value in the house.
Martin was going to be tried as an adult, with the Ohio state court deciding that no consideration would be made to her sexual abuse or trafficking. In 2015, she entered a guilty plea that involved a life sentence with eligibility for parole after 21 years.
Ohio's safe harbor law, which "recognizes that sex trafficking victims are compelled through force, fear, duress, intimidation, or fraud to participate in illegal acts," was in effect when Martin's case went to trial but she never benefited from it.
After her attorneys filed for an appeal citing the law, courts which reviewed her case agreed that she should have been eligible for safe harbor but since her attorney never established how the murder of Kerney was "related to" her victimization, the judge did not grant her the protection.
Her case is being reviewed for possible clemency by the governor of the state and a petition was launched to rally support for her.