Jeff Smith on the “Untapped Human & Entrepreneurial Potential” In Prisons

Jeff Smith ran for Congress, was a Democratic member of the Missouri Senate, and an all-around political “rising star”. That is, until he was charged with obstruction of justice and sentenced to a year and a day in Manchester, KY Federal Prison. Now, Smith is “reformed” and has written about his experience with the criminal justice system in his new book, Mr. Smith Goes to Prison.

In this edition of Greta Talk, the New School Urban Policy professor tells Greta Van Susteren about the events leading up to his sentencing (including how his “former best friend” wore a wire in order to catch him incriminating himself), how criminal justice reform has a long way to go, and how “there’s not a single concept you learn at Wharton that you couldn’t learn inside prison”.

Download and tune in to this captivating interview!