How does parole work, and what stands between someone and a second chance at freedom?
In this episode of The Doors Out, a series from our podcast Unpacking Injustice, we explore the parole process in Montana and the national landscape of parole reform.
First, Helena-based attorney Greg Jackson explains how Montana’s Board of Pardons and Parole makes release decisions, what goes into preparing for a hearing, and the barriers people can face even after demonstrating rehabilitation and developing a plan for release.
Then, Emmett Sanders, a policy and advocacy analyst at the Prison Policy Initiative, joins us to discuss how parole systems differ across the country, national trends in access to release, and how parole can help reduce mass incarceration while supporting rehabilitation and public safety.
Together, these conversations examine what meaningful opportunities for release can look like and what’s at stake when people have limited pathways home.
The Doors Out is sponsored by Bechtold Law.
Watch these clips from the episode: