Author: mtipadmin1

Earlier this month, members of our team attended the Innocence Network Conference in Chicago alongside client Bernard Pease Jr. and his sister Linda Thomas. The conference brings together directly impacted individuals, advocates, attorneys, and organizations from across the country working to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and support people returning home after release.

For our team, it was a powerful reminder that Montana is part of a growing national movement committed to truth. The experience was energizing and inspiring for everyone who attended.

Brady Minow Smith, Legal Director

Brady shared that one of her biggest takeaways was learning new ways to use expert witnesses and specialized expertise to strengthen cases and better serve clients. She was proud to share Bernard’s story and the Montana Innocence Project’s new strategic direction with the broader innocence community. Brady also reflected on how powerful it was to hear directly from exonerees and freed individuals who shared their stories at the conference’s close, saying their resilience and refusal to give up were deeply moving. She returned home, in her words, with “new energy to tackle injustice in Montana.”

Charlie McWeeny, Intake & Pro Bono Coordinator

Charlie attended his first Innocence Network Conference and was struck by the sheer size and strength of the movement — exonerees, family members, advocates, and legal teams all united around justice. Charlie shared that conversations about advances in forensic science opened new possibilities for testing and evidence review in older cases, and he was excited to workshop litigation strategies with attorneys from across the country that may help current Montana clients. But what stood out most was the response to the Montana Innocence Project’s evolving work. Charlie said his time in Chicago reinforced his belief that even among innocence organizations, MTIP is unique. Organizations from across the country were eager to learn about our expansion into unjust conviction and manifest injustice cases. Their enthusiasm confirmed his belief that MTIP is charting exciting new territory through this work.

Bernard Pease Jr., Freed Client

For Bernie, the conference offered something equally powerful: connection. Hearing what others had survived and overcome reminded him that he was not alone. He shared that the experience made him feel stronger and gave him positive energy. He emphasized that what stood out most was being there with the support of Montana Innocence Project staff and his sister, Linda. Bernie reflected, “I learned about other people and what they went through. It really made me feel like I wasn’t alone.”

Linda Thomas, Bernie’s Sister

For Linda, the conference was eye-opening and unforgettable. She shared that she learned there is “so much more than I ever dreamed of” when it comes to the innocence movement and the people working to correct injustice. Linda spoke proudly about the national community fighting for people they believe are innocent. She was especially moved by hearing courageous stories from others impacted, including a former police officer who stepped away from working in the system after seeing someone he loved become caught in it. Her favorite memory was watching her brother and other freed and exonerated people walk onto the stage. Linda said passionately, “Every citizen of the United States should go to one of these and see what happens. Everybody should attend one.”

Montana incarcerates women at one of the highest rates in the world — and Indigenous women are disproportionately represented, making up more than 40 percent of the population at Montana’s women’s prison. In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, we are joined by Kristina Lucero, a citizen of the Tseycum Band of the Saanich Nation on Vancouver Island and Director of the American Indian Governance and Policy Institute, to begin unpacking the roots of this crisis.

Throughout the conversation, Kristina grounds policy and data in personal history, including the story of her grandmother, Mary Jack, a boarding school survivor whose experiences reflect the intergenerational trauma created by federal Indian boarding school policies. She explains how historical trauma continues to shape the lives of Indigenous women and families today.

We also examine how colonization disrupted Indigenous governance, criminalized culture, and replaced community-based healing with punishment, and how that trauma intersects with poverty and lack of access to resources — often turning survival behaviors into pathways to incarceration.

Kristina draws our attention to Montana’s women’s prison, where Indigenous women face limited access to culturally grounded healing, trauma-informed care, and meaningful rehabilitation. Kristina highlights the ripple effects incarceration has on children, families, and communities, and why healing during incarceration is essential for both individual well-being and long-term public safety when people return home.

This high-level conversation begins to break down complex issues that Unpacking Injustice will continue to explore as the Montana Innocence Project implements its new strategic plan, with a specific focus on addressing the unjust incarceration of women and survivors. This episode lays the groundwork for continued dialogue, understanding, and action toward justice.

Click here to listen, or search “Unpacking Injustice” on Spotify or Amazon Music.