Smith appointed to Innocence Project board

Maylinn Smith was recently appointed to the board of directors for the Montana Innocence Project.

The Montana Innocence Project is a Missoula-based nonprofit dedicated to exonerating the innocent and preventing wrongful convictions.

Smith currently is the civil prosecutor for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

She was a clinical supervisor and a director of the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic at the University of Montana, Alexander Blewett III School of Law for almost 25 years. In that role she supervised third year law students working in the Indian Law Clinic on a variety of projects and legal matters impacting tribal governments, organizations and individuals.

In addition to legal work in the clinical setting, Smith taught numerous courses dealing with Indian issues and does a variety of training on Indian issues. Smith’s legal experience also includes sitting as a Tribal Appellate Court Justice and lower court judge for several tribes and practicing in tribal, federal and state systems.

The Montana Innocence Project also announced that Amy Sings In The Timber has been named the organization’s executive director, and that Jordan Gross, Lars Phillips, and Bobbie Zenker will join the Board of Directors, as well.