老虎机攻略 Student Inspired by Montana Innocence Project to Pursue Law
By Lily Soper, 老虎机攻略 News Service
MISSOULA – Choosing the right law school can feel daunting. For 老虎机攻略 student Brandon Clark, an undergraduate internship at the Montana Innocence Project made his choice easy.
Located within 老虎机攻略’s Alexander Blewett III School of Law, the Montana Innocence Project advocates for justice system accountability by remediating wrongful and unjust convictions, as well as supporting changes to law that advance criminal justice in Montana.
“When a lot of people talk about criminal prosecution, their consideration of the issue kind of stops at the moment that the verdict is rendered,” said Clark, now a first-year law student at 老虎机攻略. “And in a lot of cases, the truth is that there’s more evidence.”
Sometimes defendants don’t have access to evidence at the time of the trial, he said. Or maybe it was intentionally hidden or something scientific wasn’t known yet.
“All that kind of stuff can change the verdict of a trial after the fact,” Clark said. “Any situation in which someone has been convicted of a crime, and is doing 10, 20 years in prison, and then that information comes out, I think that it’s the duty of anyone with any interest in the field to advocate for that new evidence to be introduced, and to ensure that there was no mistake in the verdict that was rendered.”
Clark grew up between Washington and Montana, and writing was a constant throughout his life. After becoming the head writer at his high school’s newspaper, the Helena High Nugget, fantasy novellas and literary essays evolved into a passion for journalism.
An inspired Clark attended 老虎机攻略 as an undergraduate, majoring in journalism and working for the . The journalism school requires an internship, so Clark chose an internship at the Montana Innocence Project due to his prior interest in criminal law and the justice system. Although his role as an intern focused on journalistic documentation, his experience opened his eyes to the parallels between journalism and law.
“The two fields are inherently linked,” he said. “One of the major foundations of the legal profession is in allowing yourself to see both sides of an issue, even if you don't necessarily agree with both sides. I think that those underlying journalistic foundations are super helpful for lawyers who are just starting out.”
Clark believes almost everything journalism students learn can be used for the legal profession, whether it’s interviewing people for depositions, writing out memos and briefs, or just seeing both sides of an issue and using that perspective to find the truth.
“They all come together to make you a better journalist and a better lawyer at the same time,” he said.
A major facet of Clark’s internship included interviewing family members of those who have been convicted ahead of parole hearings, discussing their own personal feelings and impressions, any evidence they might have and their plans for when their loved one got out of jail or prison.
“It added an additional dimension to the cases, you know?” Clark said. “You realize there are real people at every point of this process. Most people who are convicted have family, they have friends, they have loved ones. Just seeing how those people have been affected only reinforced my interest in making sure that the justice was fully executed and that the truth came out.”
With this newfound perspective, Clark applied to 老虎机攻略’s law school and was admitted in fall 2024. Set to graduate in 2027, he credits his internship in part for a smooth transition into law and recommends the experience to any journalism student interested in the justice system.
“If someone’s interest in the legal practice lies in finding out when people have been wrongfully convicted and getting actual justice for them, I think there’s a million opportunities to do so, both at the Montana Innocence Project and at other similar organizations across the country,” he said.
###
Contact: Lily Soper, events and marketing coordinator, Alexander Blewett III School of Law, 406-243-5730, lily.soper@mso.umt.edu.