Obama to Make the First-Ever Presidential Visit to Federal Prison for HBO Special

In an upcoming episode of HBO’s Vice, President Barack Obama will visit the El Reno federal prison to discuss the inner workings of the country’s criminal justice system, His visit will mark the first of its kind for a sitting president. Obama will be accompanied by Shane Smith, the founder of Vice, who will tour the minimum security prison that houses approximately 1,300 inmates. Smith provided this quote on the special:

“There’s an emerging consensus in this country — on both the right and the left–that the way we treat criminal offenders is utterly broken and weakening our society in profound ways. Visiting El Reno with President Obama — the first-ever visit to a federal prison by a sitting president — will give our viewers a firsthand look into how the president is thinking about this problem, from the policy level down to one on one conversations with the men and women living this reality. It’s going to be fascinating.”

It will be fascinating because Obama will be offering his perspective as a current president for whom this problem is a concern now, rather than looking back in hindsight at what he had tried to do or wanted to do, but now it was out of his hands. It will be interesting to witness the first time a president discusses one of the country’s most unenticing problems while its still partially his responsibility. And it will also be interesting to see what he has to say now that he doesn’t have to run for election anymore. This could be a very candid, honest, and buzzworthy thing to watch.

[h/t The Wrap]