‘Lady Justice’ stolen in Montana Supreme Court clerk campaign

Justice hasn’t just been delayed. It hasn’t just been denied.

“Lady Justice” has been stolen.

From the back of a Toyota minivan. Parked near downtown Missoula.

A costume of the popular symbol of American justice, complete with blindfold, scales and toga, was unjustly taken from Erin Farris-Olsen’s minivan earlier this week as she was campaigning for clerk of the Montana Supreme Court.

Farris-Olsen, a lawyer and Helena resident, said she had been campaigning with different volunteers wearing the costume as a way to convey an image of her message that justice should be impartial.

“What comes to mind for me, and I think for many people, is Lady Justice,” said Farris-Olsen in a phone call about the theft.

Lady Justice is her logo, but she said she’s always loved costumes, so she put together a getup of the symbol with a toga, a blindfold, a sword and scales.

“Those represent my vision and what we need to strive for as a society to have a justice system that upholds our democracy,” Farris-Olsen said.

Farris-Olsen, a Democrat, is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Bowen Greenwood. Greenwood, elected in 2018, confirmed in a phone call Thursday he had not recently acquired a Lady Justice costume.

He said he does not even dress up for Halloween — unlike Farris-Olsen — although he would one day like to wear a “theater-quality Jedi Knight costume.

Nonetheless, he said his stance on such criminal activity is clear.

“As a strong personal principle, I condemn all theft costumes,” Greenwood said.

The costume was stolen Monday night, and Farris-Olsen said she reported it as missing with the Missoula Police Department.

In a phone call Thursday, Officer Whitney Bennett said the case was listed as inactive because of a lack of surveillance footage or other leads.

“Unfortunately, we have limited follow-up options with this stuff,” Bennett said.

Thief in the night

Farris-Olsen said she put the costume together and was excited to take Lady Justice to parades and be doing “little photoshoots” and videos at courthouses in Montana.

“I always love these courthouses that we have across the state,” she said.

A different volunteer has worn the costume, with different hair, demographics and body styles, but always a woman based on Lady Justice being female, inspired by a Greek goddess and representing continuity across generations because women bear children, she said.

Monday in Missoula, she parked somewhere near Broadway, a busy thoroughfare, and she recalls thinking she should lock her car, but she doesn’t remember if she actually did. She also said she might have locked the car but left a window cracked.

Nothing was broken, but sometime after 10:30 p.m. Monday and the wee hours, the thief or thieves stole other items, such as her phone charger, sun shirt and jacket. Farris-Olsen said her old laptop was in the car too, but the culprit(s) didn’t want that hardware, and she doesn’t blame them too much on that count.

“I half wish they’d taken the laptop,” she said.

Since they didn’t, she’ll motor around Montana with the old computer, but soon, she hopes, a new Lady Justice costume, maybe in time for a visit to the courthouse in Flathead County July 23-25.

“I want to reassemble the pieces and still try to get Lady Justice out in the public eye,” Farris-Olsen said. “But I’ve got to regroup, obviously.”

Roving thieves

Bennett, with the police department, said it’s common for thieves to walk down streets looking for unlocked cars and things to steal.

She said one officer has also noticed a trend of a “bump key” being used recently in Missoula, although it’s unclear if it could have been used to steal Lady Justice. A “bump key” can be used to pick a lock.

Despite the roving thieves, Greenwood, of Helena, may brave Missoula’s streets soon, possibly this weekend. He won’t face the same trouble, though.

“I have no costumes at all,” Greenwood said.

He’s a fan of justice too, although he said some of the clerk of court’s work is more basic, timely document filing, for instance. He talks about his record on his campaign website.

“During my first term, every single document, without exception, has been processed on time and according to the rules,” he said. “Republican or Democrat, politician or prisoner, everyone’s legal filings move through the system promptly and correctly.”

Although they’re both against costume stealing, Greenwood and Farris-Olsen differ in their professional backgrounds. She’s a lawyer, and he’s worked in communications and is also a novelist and former head of the Montana Republican Party.

“There are not many places where an ordinary Montanan without a law degree can see the inner workings of the justice system,” Greenwood said. “And I think it’s a great thing that clerks of court don’t have to be attorneys.”

Farris-Olsen, not only a lawyer but one the State Bar of Montana has awarded, said the work court clerks do engaging with the public “gives people the information and resources they need to achieve justice.” She said she’s passionate about their work and the justice system, “the backbone of our society.”

She said her campaign is an uphill battle because her opponent is an incumbent. She’s also a Democrat in a Republican state. But Farris-Olsen said she’d like to remind people about justice not just for her own campaign.

“I think one of the biggest things that’s at stake is the public perception of justice,” she said.

When she was out and about, one thing people commented on is the sword Lady Justice wore, Farris-Olsen said: “She does have a sword because justice is swift and final.”

It appears to still be elusive in the case of the missing Lady Justice, however. But if someone sees her at a pawn shop or for sale on Facebook, they should call the Missoula Police Department, Bennett said: (406) 552-6300.

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