MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Alice Marie Johnson will be one of President Donald Trump’s special guests at his second State of the Union address Tuesday.
Johnson was granted clemency by Trump last year after serving more than 21 years of a mandatory life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. The Memphis-area woman has since become an advocate for criminal justice reform.
Another Tennessean, Matthew Charles of Nashville, will also be in attendance for the address.
Charles spent more than 22 years of a 35-year sentence in prison for drug-related offenses. Charles was the first person granted clemency under the First Step Act—a prison reform act that Trump signed into law in December 2018.
Johnson and Charles will be two of the 13 guests Trump invited to the State of the Union, and each of them represent one of Trump’s talking points and issues.
The State of the Union address is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. CST on Tuesday. WREG will live-stream the address.