Roberta “Bobbie” Zenker received her B.A. in Photography and Fine Arts from the University of Dayton in Ohio in 1980 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Montana in 1992.
Zenker is currently a staff attorney at Disability Rights Montana where she litigates cases on behalf of individuals with disabilities to guarantee their rights to employment, education, health care, transportation, housing, and other services. Her professional experience also includes interning for the Missoula City Attorney and working for the Madison County Attorney and the State Office of Appellate Defenders.
Zenker was inspired to join the Montana Innocence Project’s board because she believes there are wrongs that must be righted in the justice system.
“My experience in nearly twenty years with the criminal justice system is that it is not always so – just, that is,” Zenker said. “Prosecutors, as a class are zealous, and sometimes overlook their mandate to seek after the ends of justice, and pursue only those cases wherein the evidence is sufficient to obtain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt in front of a local jury with all of its idiosyncrasies. Hence, wrongful convictions are not unheard of.”
Zenker’s other passions include wildlife and outdoor photography. View her work on her Facebook account!
“I used to be a hunter until I got a long lens and looked through it into the eyes of mule deer,” Zenker said. “The eyes really are the window to the soul. With apologies to Bob Dylan, ‘I can’t shoot them anymore.'”