Prison Activism Now: ACLU Montana

The ACLU of Montana was founded in 1973 as a chapter of the National ACLU. Their mission is to advance, preserve, and defend civil liberties and civil rights in Montana. The ACLU takes on voting rights, the rights of immigrants, the death penalty, and issues with Montana's prisons and jails. The ACLU is the only Montana organization that defends prisoners’ rights as human rights. Membership in Montana now approaches 2,000 households.

Background: The ACLU of Montana was founded in 1973 as a chapter of the National ACLU. Their mission is to advance, preserve, and defend civil liberties and civil rights in Montana. The ACLU takes on voting rights, the rights of immigrants, the death penalty, and issues with Montana's prisons and jails. The ACLU is the only Montana organization that defends prisoners’ rights as human rights. Membership in Montana now approaches 2,000 households.

In 2005: In addition to their work opposing Montana’s death penalty and their opposition to expansion of private prisons in Montana, the ACLU focused on improving Montana's public defender system. The ACLU was party to a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the previous public defender system in Montana. They argued that public defense attorneys were under-funded, resulting in poor legal representation and making it more likely that innocent people could wind up in prison, jail, or even death row. After three years in court, the lawsuit was put on hold so the 2005 Montana state legislature could have an opportunity to overhaul Montana’s public defense system.

The ACLU worked closely with bill sponsors and other legislators, and brought people who had been affected by poor legal representation (through the old public defense system) to the state legislature to participate in the process of crafting a better system. The legislation called for adopting nationally recognized standards for legal representation, the creation of an eleven-member public defender oversight commission, and funding research and training for attorneys who are working as public defenders. The legislation passed with broad based bi-partisan support and creation of a new system has begun, and is to be implemented in July 2006. The ACLU is now monitoring this system to ensure it is fair, just and meets the needs of all Montanans who need legal representation but can’t afford it.

To learn more, visit www.aclumontana.org

This profile orginally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2005 Justice Matters.