she mentioned that she spent a week in juvie. certainly any of us, if we were exposed to that type of environment for a week, it could be a wake-up call. unfortunately, in this country, we have so many unduly harsh penalties. that instead of spending a week, you have individuals like alice marie johnson, who was convicted of a first time, nonviolent drug offense, who ended up spending almost 22 years in prison, and it was only because of the president's actions that she is now free. think about that. two decades in prison for a first time nonviolent drug offense. i have spent considerable time with alice johnson -- he is a much better person than i am. just a truly remarkable individual. i just thought to myself what a tragedy it is that we have so money people, just like her, who are still buried alive behind --s because of these admittedly, well-intentioned laws we put in the books in the 1980's and 1990's to try to address the drug epidemic. and we now know it did not work. it did not make us any safer. instead of turning out