In recent decades, the United States has relentlessly expanded the size of its criminal legal system (sometimes called the criminal justice system) needlessly throwing away lives and wasting trillions of taxpayer dollars. Montana is no exception, with a criminal legal system that is unproductive, wasteful, and dominated by racial disparities. The ACLU of Montana works to end mass incarceration, abolish the death penalty, combat the criminalization of poverty, decrease racial disparities, end the cash bail system, and ensure constitutionally protected treatment for people moving through Montana's criminal legal system.
See the ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice Montana State Blueprint for more about mass incarceration and our recommendations for positive change.