Unpacking Injustice

Today's episode introduces MTIP's newest client, Bradley Hillious, and provides an inside look at the investigation that led MTIP to take on his case and prepare a petition for post-conviction relief seeking a new trial. Bradley is serving a 100-year sentence for the death of his wife, Amanda Hillious. Amanda's death was initially believed to be the result of a fall down a staircase, but an autops...

In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, we're joined by Amanda McKnight, founder of 406 Revolutionized, a growing Facebook group supporting incarcerated individuals and their families across Montana. Amanda shares how her husband's incarceration led her to become what she calls an “unwilling student of a broken legal system.” What began as a personal search for answers quickly evolved into a state...

In this episode of Unpacking Injustice , Rosebud Madinger shares the story behind Empower 180 and her work supporting Native women preparing to return home from the Montana Women’s Prison. Inspired by her work as a prison minister—and seeing many of the women return home only to come back to prison shortly after—Rosebud was called to focus on reentry, helping women break cycles of incarceration an...

In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, Montana Innocence Project Legal Director Brady Minow Smith and Intake & Pro Bono Coordinator Charlie McWeeny discuss a major new development in the Aaron Oliphant case. Aaron was wrongfully convicted in 2016 after doctors claimed his infant son’s injuries were caused by abusive head trauma, often referred to as Shaken Baby Syndrome. Now, MTIP has filed a...

In part two of this conversation, we continue our discussion with Brent Buell, theater producer, director, and longtime facilitator with Rehabilitation Through the Arts at Sing Sing prison. This episode focuses on reentry and the often invisible barriers that make that transition so difficult. Brent shares what he’s learned from walking alongside people returning home, and we discuss the decision...

In this two-part episode of Unpacking Injustice, we sit down with Brent Buell, a theater producer and director who spent over a decade teaching inside Sing Sing prison through Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). In part one, Brent shares how theater became a powerful tool for transformation, helping incarcerated individuals build empathy and explore their identities. We discuss the impact of RT...

In this episode, we share a recording from our book club discussion of What’s Prison For? Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incarceration by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bill Keller. Keller — former executive editor of The New York Times and founding editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project — joined the first portion of the conversation to discuss redemption, the role of correct...

Montana incarcerates women at one of the highest rates in the world — and Indigenous women are disproportionately represented, making up more than 40 percent of the population at Montana’s women’s prison. In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, we are joined by Kristina Lucero, a citizen of the Tseycum Band of the Saanich Nation on Vancouver Island and Director of the American Indian Governance an...

In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, we revisit the case of Bernard Pease Jr., wrongfully convicted of a 1984 murder based on faulty forensic evidence. Two years after a pivotal evidentiary hearing revealed that a hair presented at trial as belonging to the victim was actually a cat hair, the Montana Innocence Project continues its fight to secure justice for Bernie. With new filings due this F...

In this Giving Tuesday special episode of Unpacking Injustice, MTIP Executive Director Amy Sings In The Timber and Legal Director Brady Minow Smith walk through the Montana Innocence Project’s newly released strategic plan. Since 2008, MTIP has been dedicated to freeing the innocent and challenging injustice. In this episode, Amy and Brady break down how our mission is expanding to meet the needs...

What does justice look like when we execute someone, knowing the system is fallible? In this episode, Montana Innocence Project Executive Director Amy Sings In The Timber and Legal Director Brady Minow Smith discuss the death penalty — its moral, legal, and human implications through the lens of innocence and manifest injustice work. They explore how personal experience shapes perspective, why inn...

In recognition of the 12th Annual International Wrongful Conviction Day, the Montana Innocence Project was honored to be joined by author, lawyer, and exoneree Calvin Duncan. Alongside MTIP Executive Director Amy Sings In The Timber and Legal Director Brady Minow Smith, the panel explored the barriers that keep people behind bars, Calvin’s story and work since exoneration—including his current bid...

In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, we sit down with Ali Lacayo, Social Services Advocate at the Montana Innocence Project. Ali shares their journey from incarceration to advocacy, reflecting on how cultural identity, resilience, and community values guide their work. The conversation explores the intersections of racial justice and criminal legal reform, the impact of lived experience on advo...

In this episode of Unpacking Injustice, Montana Innocence Project client Katie Garding shares her experience on a three-day women’s backpacking retreat at Doris Lake near Whitefish, Montana. While this was her first backpacking adventure, her lifelong love of nature made the journey all the more meaningful. Katie describes the trip as freeing—an opportunity to be fully present in nature without th...

Our mission is to free the innocent and unjustly incarcerated, and advocate for systems of Justice that are accurate, accountable, and fair for all. One of the main ways we achieve this is through providing free legal representation. On this episode, we are joined by MTIP Legal Director Brady Minow Smith who details the types of cases MTIP takes on and how to initiate the application process.

In Part 2 of this series, we continue our conversation with Katherine Judson, the Executive Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences. In this episode we will explore how similar symptoms to SBS/AHT can sometimes be overlooked or dismissed, further leading to misdiagnosis and how forensic and medical experts' biases or assumptions influence the outcomes of these cases. We'll also d...

In today’s episode you will hear from Katherine Judson, the Executive Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences. Katherine previously served as the SBS/AHT Litigation Coordinator for the Wisconsin Innocence Project, where she coordinated strategic litigation efforts in science-dependent cases, trained lawyers, consulted on medically complex cases, taught law students, and engaged i...

In Part 2 of this series, we continue our conversation with MTIP Board Member and criminal defense attorney Paul Leisher to delve deeper into the details of Aaron Oliphant’s case, examining how his ineffective assistance of counsel and the absence of medical expert testimony impacted the outcome of his trial. Additionally, we will explore the key challenges attorneys encounter when defending clien...

MTIP Board Member and criminal defense attorney Paul Leisher sat down with MTIP Communications Associate Ashley Miller to explain the highly controversial diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome, the role it played in MTIP client Aaron Oliphant’s case, and its implications for wrongful conviction.

During the 2025 Legislative Session the Montana Innocence Project fought for legislation to restore and improve a compensation program for exonerees, establish state coordinated reentry services, institute work time credit for individuals under state supervision, and to protect the innocent from capital punishment. Today's conversation with MTIP Executive Director Amy Sings In The Timber examines...

MTIP Communications Associate Ashley Miller spoke with Dr. John Morgan, an author, researcher, and professor, internationally recognized for his work in forensic science. Dr. Morgan discussed his extensive research on forensic science errors in wrongful convictions, as well as how we can work towards mitigating future errors, and making system based reforms by forensic practitioners. Take a listen...

MTIP Communications Associate Ashley Miller spoke with Dr. Craig Haney, a social psychologist and a professor at the UC Santa Cruz, to discuss the psychological trauma and health effects that incarceration, and more specifically wrongful incarceration has on individuals. Haney holds psychology and law degrees, and began his career as one of the principal researchers on the Stanford Prison Experime...

Last week, four Montana Innocence Project staff members and freed client Joseph Jefferson-Dust attended the 2024 Innocence Network Conference in New Orleans. Over 1,200 people were united in community at the event, including 400 freed and exonerated people, who had endured a total of 6,654 years of wrongful imprisonment. Our staff and client Joseph Jefferson-Dust engaged in educational sessions, c...

MTIP Communications Associate Ashley Miller spoke with client Katie Garding to discuss her reentry journey over the last year, after her wrongful conviction was overturned in March of 2023. She discussed updates on where her wrongful conviction case stands today, her newfound career, and her hopes for the future! Take a listen!

MTIP Communications Manager Ashley Miller spoke with client Bernard Pease Jr. and his sister Linda Thomas over the phone to discuss his re-entry journey after spending nearly 40 years wrongfully incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. On January 2nd, Bernie was discharged from the Alpha House Pre-release Center in Billings, MT and was reunited with his family. He candidly discussed new challen...