Brittany K. Barnett, one of the lawyers working with Kim Kardashian on prison reform, has provided some context on the long-running behind-the-scenes work that's made the recent release of a number of unfairly sentenced prisoners possible.
In a Facebook post shared earlier this week amid reports of the 17 people recently freed through the 90 Days of Freedom campaign, Barnett explained that she and partner MiAngel Cody left "six-figure salary jobs" behind to put their reform efforts in motion.
"We attempted to get grants from these large foundations shelling out MILLIONS of dollars to other organizations but would not look our way because they so-called don't fund 'direct services,'" Barnett said in a post shared Tuesday. "Our hands were full picking locks to human cages, we didn't have time to participate in glorified begging from the nonprofit industrial complex only to be turned down."
After those foundations turned down funding opportunities, Kardashian entered the picture.
"We and our clients and their families have a lot of love for her and are deeply grateful for her," Barnett said. "In 90 days TWO black women lawyers freed SEVENTEEN people from LIFE W/O PAROLE sentences—the second most severe penalty permitted by law in America. Only two of us. Prosecutors opposed nearly every single case we had. We litigated our asses off in federal courts across the country. We won DOWNWARD DEPARTURES in most of our cases due to good lawyering. People set to DIE in prison are now FREE."
See Barnett's full note below.
In a recent KUWTK moment, Kardashian credited the experience of helping Alice Marie Johnson secure freedom as being hugely inspirational in her decision to get more involved with reform efforts. "I'm really motivated to get to know the law more and fight for people that deserve a second chance, like her," she said earlier this month.
