last stop in a long life of incarceration. i ve been locked up virtually since age 12 in institutions and reform schools and prisons and penal farms, and i m in here this time for prying into an empty drawer in the lobby of a hospital. i received a life sentence under what they called the habitual criminal clause because i ve been convicted so many times before for theft, shoplifting, and just being a pain to the members of society and midtown memphis. ziggy had grown accustomed to life in riverbend s minimum security unit. he has what he calls a cushy prison job, editing the inmate newspaper. my punishment is not going to begin until i walk out those front gates because this is the world i ve gotten used to since age 12. but when i get out there, it s an entirely different world, and it s a changed world, and to be honest with you, i m very, very scared. our crew would soon learn
i ve been in prison now for three years. falsely convicted. i ve always maintained my innocence. me, i m innocent. i m just visiting. inmates often tell our producers they were wrongly convicted. innocent of their crimes. they long for the day when they re free again. that s what made the case of richard z. hall so baffling. when we met him, ziggy was fighting to stay in prison. life out on the street wasn t all that great. so i just looked around me and say, hey, this is where it s at. we met ziggy at the river bend maximum security institution in tennessee, the last stop in a long life of incarceration. i ve been locked up virtually since age 12 in institutions and reform schools and prisons and penal farms, and i m in here this time for prying into an
the genius of america is the free enterprise system. freedom. the fact that people can go out there and start a business, work on an idea, make their own decisions. but as abraham lincoln understood, there are also some things we do betters together. in the middle of the civil war, abraham lincoln said the, let s help to finance the transcantinental railroad. let s start the national academy of sciences. let s start land-grant colleges because we want to give these gateways of opportunity for all americans because if all americans are getting opportunity, we are all going to be better off. that doesn t restrict people s freedom. that enhances it. and so what i have tried to do, as president, is to apply those same principles. when it comes to education. what visaid is, we have to reform schools that are not working, we use something call race to the top t. wasn t a top-down approach, governor.
free enterprise system. freedom. the fact that people can go out there and start a business, work on an idea, make their own decisions. but as abraham lincoln understood, there are also some things we do betters together. in the mdle of the civil war, abraham lincoln said the, let s help to finance the transcantinental railroad. let s start the national academy of sciences. let s start land-grant colleges because we want to give these gateways of opportunity for all americans because if all americans are getting opportunity, we are all going to be better off. that doesn t restrict people s freedom. that enhances it. and so what i have tried to do, as president, is to apply those same principles. when it comes to education. what visaid is, we have to reform schools that are not working, we use something call race to the top t. wasn t a top-down approach, governor. what we have said is to states,
free enterprise system. freedom. the fact that people can go out there and start a business, work on an idea, make their own decisions. but as abraham lincoln understood, there are also some things we do betters together. in the middle of the civil war, abraham lincoln said the, let s help to finance the transcantinental railroad. let s start the national academy of sciences. let s start land-grant colleges because we want to give these gateways of opportunity for all americans because if all americans are getting opportunity, we are all going to be better off. that doesn t restrict people s freedom. that enhances it. and so what i have tried to do, as president, is to apply those same principles. when it comes to education. what visaid is, we have to reform schools that are not working, we use something call race to the top t. wasn t a top-down approach, governor. what we have said is to states,