Montana Innocence Project

10/14/2026

Women can’t be left behind in the fight to end mass incarceration. This is especially true in Montana. Our state is second in the world for rates of incarcerating women and more than 40% of our prison population is Indigenous women.

It is time for Montana to address these disparities by working with the legislature, judges, and others. Understanding data is a key component in drafting & implementing meaningful reforms that improve the fairness of our legal system.

A new report from Prison Policy Initiative takes an in-depth look on the data & root causes behind women's incarceration across the U.S. & poses the question, how many of these women would be better served in treatment programs in their communities than by criminal legal system punishments far from home?

Dive into data & read the full report at: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2026women.html.

198,800 women are behind bars in the U.S. See the report that shows where they are locked up and why.

10/11/2026

Data points to two factors as the most prevalent causes of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases: official misconduct & perjury or false accusation.

You can read an analysis of this data from the National Registry of Exonerations below.

Many factors contribute to wrongful convictions, and it is no different in capital cases. But the most recent data from the National Registry of…

10/08/2026

More than 30 community members joined us in person at the University of Montana and on Zoom last Friday for Wrongful Conviction Day.

Together, we screened excerpts from the unreleased documentary The Murder That Never Happened and heard from exoneree Jimmie “Chris” Duncan, exoneree and wrongful conviction advocate Maria Shepherd, filmmaker Catherine Legge, and Montana Innocence Project Legal Director Brady Minow Smith.

Chris spent 27 years on Louisiana’s death row for a crime he did not commit. His story sparked a powerful conversation about forensic evidence, expert testimony, and what happens when a theory takes hold and begins to shape the evidence around it.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make space for these important conversations. We’re grateful to have you in this community.

09/30/2026

Wrongful Conviction Day is this Friday, October 2.

Join us for an evening of film and conversation featuring excerpts from The Murder That Never Happened, followed by a discussion with exonerees Jimmie “Chris” Duncan and Maria Shepherd and filmmaker Catherine Legge.

The issues raised in Chris’s story — from junk science to the pressure to hold someone accountable — connect directly to the cases we see here in Montana and the work we do every day.

📍 UM North Underground Urey Lecture Hall
🕕 6–8 p.m.
💻 Virtual option available

Come join the conversation. Learn more: https://mtinnocenceproject.org/wrongful-conviction-day-invite-documentary-conversation-with-filmmaker-exonerees/

09/25/2026

“Second look” policies that allow judges to review sentences after a person has served a lengthy period of time in prison are a crucial part of addressing mass incarceration.

In a new policy brief the The Sentencing Project calls on jurisdictions to enact statutes that give people with disabilities the opportunity to have their sentences reviewed and reduced.

Read more:

Jurisdictions should enact “disability second look” statutes to give people with disabilities serving long sentences the chance for review.

09/24/2026

“If you support the death penalty, you have to be at peace with killing innocent people.”

If you missed our community conversation with Secrets of the Killing State author Corinna Barrett Lain this week, you can now listen to the full recording on our podcast, Unpacking Injustice.

Listen now and join the conversation about the death penalty, wrongful convictions, and the questions we should be asking about our criminal legal system: https://rss.com/podcasts/unpacking-injustice/

09/23/2026

Yesterday, we gathered for a community conversation with Corinna Barrett Lain, author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection.

We explored the history of lethal injection, the secrecy surrounding executions, and the questions that arise when the government holds the power to take a life. We’re grateful to Corinna for sharing her research and helping us dig deeper into these complex and important issues.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the conversation. If you missed it, you can listen to the full recording of the discussion through Unpacking Injustice at the link below.

Listen to the full conversation on our newest podcast episode at the link in our bio.

09/23/2026

Yesterday, we gathered for a community conversation with Corinna Barrett Lain, author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection.

We explored the history of lethal injection, the secrecy surrounding executions, and the questions that arise when the government holds the power to take a life. We’re grateful to Corinna for sharing her research and helping us dig deeper into these complex and important issues.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the conversation. If you missed it, you can listen to the full recording of the discussion through Unpacking Injustice at the link below.

Listen to the full conversation on our newest podcast episode: https://mtinnocenceproject.org/community-conversation-on-secrets-of-the-killing-state-with-author-corinna-barrett-lain/

09/20/2026

Bite mark analysis, which in recent years has been widely discredited as junk science, is responsible for at least 40 wrongful convictions and indictments.

Last month the acknowledgment of this injustice led to the exoneration of Sheila Denton, who served 21 years in prison due to her wrongful conviction.

Read more about her case and how junk science plays a role in many wrongful convictions.
Link:

(September 9, 2026 — Waycross, Georgia) After 21 years of wrongful conviction, Sheila Denton has been exonerated. Last week, a judge signed off on the state’s decision to not retry Ms. Denton and dismiss the charges for the 2004 murder of Eugene Garner for which she spent 15 years wrongfully imp...

09/17/2026

Constitution Day is a chance to reflect on the rights and protections our Constitution promises to every person.

At Montana Innocence Project, these protections shape our work every day. So, in honor of Constitution Day, here are five constitutional rights and protections at the heart of our work.

Read at the link in our bio.