Features

2022

Handcrafted dreamcatcher made by MTIP current client, Bernard Pease (Photo by Sarah Mosquera)
Montana State Prison Hobby Store features art by incarcerated people
MTIP’s merch store is open!
Joseph Jefferson-Dust on his mom’s motorcycle after she picked him up from the Yellowstone County Jail following his exoneration (Photo courtesy of Lydina Big Man)
Montana Innocence Project frees Joseph Jefferson-Dust
Missoula County Courthouse
Missoula County Courthouse
Criminal Justice Oversight Council seeks to raise mandatory minimums, expand three-strikes
Katie Garding shares her story of being wrongfully convicted to a live audience.
Katie Garding receives standing ovation at Tell Us Something’s live storytelling event
Montana legislature considering use of facial recognition for serious crime investigations, a known cause of wrongful arrests
MTIP hosts panel discussing SCOTUS implications for racial, criminal justice work
Aaron Oliphant wildland firefighting (Photo courtesy of Rena Oliphant)
‘To be treated like a normal person:’ MTIP client Aaron Oliphant on working for Montana State Prison’s wildland firefighting crew
Overturning Roe will lead to unjust prosecutions, more restrictions on prison abortions
Remediating the New Jim Crow: 3 paths to decarceration, how you can help
On Juneteenth, innocence advocate Robyn Trent Jefferson discusses mass incarceration, wrongful conviction
Montana Innocence Project files amicus brief in OPD case, underscores importance of effective assistance of counsel for all defendants
Cody Marble in front of the Missoula County Courthouse
Cody Marble in front of the Missoula County Courthouse (Photo from The Missoulian)
Cody Marble wins motion to receive rental vouchers while compensation claim is pending
Organization Highlight: Center for Restorative Youth Justice
‘Meant to be:’ MTIP freed client Dave Wilkes meets long-lost brother after release
Cody Marble in front of the Missoula County Courthouse
Cody Marble in front of the Missoula County Courthouse (Photo from The Missoulian)
MTIP freed client Cody Marble discusses frustrating experience filing for compensation under new law
MTIP Legal Director, Caiti Carpenter, on how motherhood enhanced her advocacy
3 must-read poetry books about racial, criminal justice
Cannabis convictions: Petitioning now-unjust convictions, a step toward alleviating disparate impacts
Katie Garding updates about life on parole, reflects on experience with wrongful conviction
Organization Highlight: The Black News Channel
More than half of all exonerees are Black. Here’s why.
Celebrating Black leaders in the innocence movement
Dave Wilkes sits outside surrounded by trees in the Rattlesnake area of Missoula
Dave Wilkes enjoying the outdoors at the Rattlesnake area of Missoula a few days after his release from wrongful incarceration (Photo courtesy of Dave Wilkes)
Dave Wilkes reflects on two years of freedom
3 MLK quotes that inspire criminal justice advocacy

2021

Katie Garding granted parole, to be released following completion of pre-release program
Montana Innocence Project, ACLU of Montana, and Welcome Back discuss prisoner rights during the pandemic
Impacts of the disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous peoples, why we should all care
Criminalization of Indigenous women’s survival contributes to mass incarceration
Jurisdictional complexities perpetuate the over-incarceration of Indigenous peoples in Montana
Organization Highlight: Free Verse
Technical violations lead to mass incarceration of Indigenous Montanans
Over-policing, over-criminalization contributes to disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous peoples
Jule Banville in the booth recording “An Absurd Result.” (Photo courtesy of Jule Banville)
Q&A with ‘An Absurd Result’ podcast creator Jule Banville
Denise Juneau
Celebrating Indigenous leaders in Montana
Montana Innocence Project recognizes Eighth Annual International Wrongful Conviction Day
Organization Highlight: EmpowerMT
Q&A with ‘The Phantom’ director Patrick Forbes
Dave Wilkes and son Gabriel
Dave Wilkes and son Gabriel (Photo courtesy of Dave Wilkes)
‘At any time, I have to relive all that negativity:’ Barriers to employment for formerly incarcerated people
Organization Highlight: Welcome Back
(Photo courtesy of Katie Garding)
‘Kind of makes you feel like a real person:’ Katie Garding reflects on prison dog training program
(Photo courtesy of Rena Oliphant)
Photo story: Aaron Oliphant finds unwavering support in best friend
Organization Highlight: YWCA Missoula
(Photo courtesy of pathos labs)
Organization Highlight: #FreeJason
Aaron Oliphant at age 12 with his dad Gary Oliphant (Photo courtesy of Rena Oliphant)
After watching his dad face cancer, Aaron Oliphant was inspired to face injustice, seek remedies for wrongful conviction
Montana Innocence Project, Montana’s Black Law Students Association host mass incarceration panel
Spencer Veysey at the Reno in East Missoula in 2009. (Photo courtesy of Steve Veysey)
‘One singular truth:’ Late investigator Spencer Veysey’s everlasting impact
Discrimination, overcriminalization lead to wrongful convictions of LGBTQIA2S+ people
Aaron holds his 22-month-old son Colton.
Aaron Oliphant and son Colton (Photo courtesy of Rena Oliphant)
MTIP client Aaron Oliphant to face Board of Pardons and Parole in June
Katie Garding and her son Carson (Photo courtesy of Chyrel Garding)
Katie Garding opens up about experience as a wrongfully incarcerated mom
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The blue wall of silence perpetuates racist policing, wrongful convictions
Sisters Katie, Chyrel Garding share how experiences in the criminal legal system brought them closer
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Innocent Black people spend 45% longer wrongfully incarcerated
Death Penalty Information Center adds Montanan to death row exonerees list
(Photo from The Guardian)
5 innocent people who executed or exonerated on death row
(Photo from Equal Justice Initiative)

Innocent Black people more likely to be exonerated from death row
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MTIP Legal Director recommends books, songs for Black History Month
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Innocent Black people significantly more likely to be wrongfully convicted of sexual assault
MTIP founder suggests books about innocence to read during Black History Month
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Police misconduct largely contributes to wrongful convictions of innocent Black people

2020

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Q&A: SK Rossi examines human rights violations in prisons
(Photo courtesy of Chyrel Garding)
Christmas for the Gardings
(Photo courtesy of Ann Miller)
Indigenous justice advocates on restoring traditional peacemaking systems in Montana
Katie Garding (Photo courtesy of Katie Garding)
Katie Garding’s family reflects on pre-release announcement, song written by Katie’s dad
(Photo courtesy of Barry Beach)
‘Never, ever, ever give up’: Barry Beach’s resilient fight for freedom
#barriers2innocence: Over-Policing and Criminalization of BIPOC
#barriers2innocence: Mass Incarceration
#barriers2innocence: Private Prisons
#barriers2innocence: All-White Juries
#barriers2innocence: Cash Bail and Pre-Trial Detention
#barriers2innocence: Presumption of Guilt
#barriers2innocence: Cross-Racial Witness Misidentification
#barriers2innocence: Coerced Confessions
#barriers2innocence: False Accusations
#barriers2innocence: Bias-Motivated Prosecution
#barriers2innocence: Bias-Motivated Policing
#barriers2innocence: Implicit Bias
Introducing #barriers2innocence