Kim Kardashian West, Criminal Justice Reform Advocate, Is One Step Closer to Becoming a Lawyer

(Bloomberg) -- Kim Kardashian West is one step closer to becoming a lawyer, announcing on Monday that she passed the California First-Year Law Students' Examination, colloquially known as the “Baby Bar.” 

The test is one of two required for applicants attending an unaccredited law school or who are learning through an apprenticeship with Law Office Study Program, according to the State Bar of California. Only 20.7% of the 275 people who took the exam in June passed, the latest test for which data is available.

The reality star and founder of KKW Beauty and the intimates brand Skims said on Twitter that she took the exam four times in two years. “For anyone who doesn’t know my law school journey, know this wasn’t easy or handed to me,” she wrote in a thread on Twitter.  “I was told by top lawyers that this was a close to impossible journey and harder than the traditional law school route.”

Kardashian West, who filed for divorce from rapper and designer Kanye West in February, has been steadily building her resume as a champion for criminal-justice reform. She visited the Trump-era White House several times, including a June 2019 visit advocating for “second chance” hiring and reentry programs for formerly incarcerated people. In 2018, she pressed publicly for the release of Alice Marie Johnson, who had served nearly 22 years linked to a first-time nonviolent drug offense. President Donald Trump ultimately commuted Johnson’s sentence.

In her announcement, Kardashian West thanked CNN host Van Jones, her professors at Bar Bri Law School, and lawyers Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney for their support. She also reminisced about her late father, attorney Robert Kardashian, Sr., who worked on O.J. Simpson’s defense team. 

“My dad would be so proud,” Kardashian West said, adding he “would’ve been my best study partner. I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didn’t pass on their first attempt like him, but he would’ve been my best cheerleader!”

In addition to her political advocacy, Kardashian West has partnered with Buried Alive Project co-founder Brittany K. Barnett and The Decarceration Collective founder MiAngel Cody to push for the release of at least 17 other incarcerated people through their 90 Days of Freedom campaign.

In May 2019, Matthew Charles, one of the 17 people whose sentences were commuted, said Kardashian West had pledged to pay his rent for five years after he struggled to find permanent housing. A 2018 study by the Prison Policy Initiative found that 570 out of every 10,000 formerly incarcerated people were housing-insecure, while 203 out of every 10,000 were houseless. 

“Our relationships with our clients don’t end when they are freed,” Barnett told CNN that year, adding that Kardashian West “is truly dedicated to the issue. I work personally with her, we are really grateful.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.