Montana Innocence Project

08/28/2026

You may have spotted an op-ed by our Executive Director, Amy Sings In The Timber, in a few Montana publications this week. Read it below:

The piece expands on Amy’s “Hills I Will Die On” essay from a few weeks ago, diving deeper into one of her strongest-held beliefs: we cannot fix mass incarceration by building more prisons.

https://missoulian.com/opinion/column/article_e67ed918-bf85-4843-8e92-18f10741f794.html

08/27/2026

More & more states are recognizing how children are different from adults for purposes of sentencing.

Read more from Equal Justice Initiative on the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision that subjecting young people to excessively long prison sentences violates the Michigan Constitution’s prohibition on cruel or unusual punishment.

Read:

Sentencing a youthful offender convicted of second-degree murder to 50 to 75 years in prison is "cruel or unusual punishment," ruled Michigan's highest court.

08/22/2026

Read the newest from Prison Policy Initiative that provides state-by-state data showing that medical parole (also known as compassionate release) is used so sparingly that very few people are actually released this way.

“With a rapidly aging population, inadequate medical care inside, and too few care facilities that will accept people with felony convictions if they are approved for medical parole, states need to make better use of all early release mechanisms to keep prisons from becoming nursing homes.”

Read more at:

An updated table of state-by-state data shows that medical parole (also known as compassionate release) is used so sparingly that very few people are actually ...

08/18/2026

A new op-ed outlines why states must look beyond sensational headlines about youth crime and focus on what the data —and decades of research — actually show.

https://www.governing.com/policy/the-myth-that-youth-crime-is-out-of-control?fbclid=IwdGRleATdfQ1wZG9mAWZkaWQWULx1saFKwFxd9kiVgE1ttvx1ISMZqmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6ueogb-YmLVoYMRlXbmM7IYr3TKAFnzIDYPnoefRbvMN0bnir96EWmk9QHOQ_aem_50-2dZLUiqwLs981as3lLQ

Fear, not facts, is driving juvenile justice policy. Reactive, overly punitive policies mire too many young people in the justice system. It doesn’t have to be that way.

08/13/2026

The pursuit of justice is rarely a straight line.

Our clients’ cases often move through years of investigations, hearings, appeals, and complex legal proceedings before a final decision. While these milestones can be difficult to follow, they represent the work of holding our justice system accountable and refusing to give up when the evidence demands a second look.

Today, Legal Director Brady Minow Smith shares updates on Bernard Pease Jr. and Katie Garding's cases.

Read more here: https://mtinnocenceproject.org/important-updates-in-two-ongoing-innocence-cases/

08/12/2026

Our Executive Director, Amy Sings In The Timber, shares a few principles she'll never stop believing in about criminal justice.

Read more: https://mtinnocenceproject.org/the-hills-id-die-on-as-executive-director-of-the-montana-innocence-project/

08/08/2026

Read how advances in science are allowing for new evidence that is undermining convictions that were based on outdated science.

A Georgia judge ordered a new trial for Danyel Smith, who was convicted of a crime that may have never occurred.

07/30/2026

Laws that take a second look at long sentences are a crucial part of addressing mass incarceration. Many of these reforms focus on people who were convicted of offenses at a young age, acknowledging that young people have a unique capacity for growth, maturity, & rehabilitation.

Despite their effectiveness some of these laws, including the District of Columbia’s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, are under threat.
Read the story of one man’s success & what’s at stake in D.C.

At just 16 years old, I made a drastic decision that derailed my life. But I'm the beneficiary of a law that allowed me to redefine myself.

07/26/2026

Montana is second in the world for rates of incarcerating women - many of them are survivors of violence.

Addressing the incarceration rates of women means confronting how surviving abuse and committing an offense can be intertwined. "There is a myth of a ‘perfect’ victim that needs to be dispelled.”

The Marshall Project examines how these issues are connected and what several states are doing to mitigate punishment of domestic violence survivors.

Read more at:

Researchers surveyed people who kill their abusers. They found several complicated reasons why survivors end up in prison because of abuse.

07/24/2026

We asked our team to share the criminal justice books, podcasts, films, and shows they're enjoying this summer. 📚🎧

What's on your summer reading or watch list? Share your recommendations in the comments below!