Jeff Smith — the former Missouri state senator sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for lying to the FBI — returned to my show today to tell more stories from his time behind bars and his book, “Mr. Smith Goes To Prison.” Among the topics we covered:
- Was his cellmate really like Morgan Freeman’s character in “The Shawshank Redemption”?
- Why do so many prisoners return to jail so often?
- Do correctional facilities and staffs really care about “correcting” convicts?
- Was there any effort made to educate or train inmates for their post-prison life?
- Why does he say many convicts are smarter about business than Wharton grads?
- What is “Ban The Box”?
- Was his minimum-security facility what most people call a Country Club Prison?
- What’s worse in the slammer — being a snitch or being a child molester?
- How are race relations inside?
- What reforms would he make in the American incarceration system?
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Previously on Harris Online…
- My earlier conversation with Jeff Smith about his book, including more prison stories (9/15).
- My conversation with Jeff Smith about Jeb Bush trying to continue The Bush Dynasty (12/26/14).
- My conversation with Jeff Smith about “The Recovering Politician’s 12 Step Program To Survive Crisis” (8/13).
- My conversation with then-state-senator-not-yet-inmate Jeff Smith (1/23/09).
- The documentary “Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore?” is on my Movies You Might Not Know list.