Obama to Become First Sitting President to Visit a Federal Prison as Part of HBO Special

President Barack Obama will become the first sitting president to visit a federal prison next week, when he goes to participate in a special for "Vice" on HBO.

The special will air on HBO in the fall, Vice News announced. Obama and Vice founder Shane Smith will tour the medium-security facility and meet with prisoners and prison staff.

“The president will continue his focus on criminal justice reform on Thursday, by making the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to a federal prison at the El Reno prison outside Oklahoma City,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Friday.

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Obama has identified criminal justice reform, including changes to mandatory sentencing laws and tweaking how nonviolent crimes are categorized, as a key agenda item of his remaining time in office. It is also an issue that has gained broad bipartisan support – even including from some Republican presidential candidates.

Earnest declined to answer several questions about whether Obama plans to issue several commutations next week for nonviolent offenders, as reported by the New York Times. He also did not answer whether Obama supported restoring voting rights for convicted felons who served their sentenced.

Before visiting the prison, Obama will deliver an address on criminal justice reform to the 106th annual NAACP national convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

“The president will outline the unfairness in much of our criminal justice system, highlight bipartisan ideas and layout his own ideas to make our justice system fairer, smarter and more cost effective, while keeping the American people safe and security,” Earnest said.

Obama did an interview with Vice News earlier this year. Vice is a newer media company well known for its "infamous" series, "Kids Telling Dirty Jokes."