(C) Daily Montanan
This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Alliance Defending Freedom now on state criminal justice council [1]

['Jordan Hansen', 'Keila Szpaller', 'Sofia Resnick', 'More From Author', '- July', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2025-07-24

A Christian legal organization will now have a seat on the council overseeing the state’s criminal justice system, after Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Alliance Defending Freedom’s Jessica Flint to the state’s Criminal Justice Oversight Council.

The Montana Legislature created the 18-member council in 2017, comprising four legislators and 14 appointed members representing various parts of the criminal justice system. Flint’s position is as the “representative of civil rights advocates” and was created to advocate for the civil rights of incarcerated people.

Flint is a State Government Relations Manager for the legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which, its website states, was founded “with the goal of keeping the doors open for the Gospel.”

Flint briefly introduced herself and ADF’s work during a July 23 meeting of the council.

“We are a nonprofit legal advocacy organization working primarily on free speech and free exercise of religion, and the reason you do that is because we’ve seen laws that criminalize and punish people,” Flint said. “So we work to make sure that this doesn’t become a basis for criminalizing people utilizing their constitutional right.”

Flint referenced a case ADF had been involved in, when a Colorado baker in 2012 refused to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. In the ensuing legal battle, Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop was initially found in violation of the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act and told to start making cakes for same-sex couples if they asked, and provide two years of reporting every time they denied someone service.

The case ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Phillips, who was represented by the ADF.

The jail time Flint mentioned was held out as a possibility when the Colorado Human Rights Commission first handled the case in 2013. However, Phillips never served jail time and the possibility was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court which said the commission had acted with prejudice.

In the 2018 Supreme Court opinion on the case, it states, “Colorado law does not permit the (Colorado Civil Rights Commission) to assess money damages or fines.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom and the Governor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment by Thursday afternoon. The Governor’s Office was provided with seven questions, which mostly regarded Flint’s background, the role the ADF is to play in state policy and why a Christian organization is now on the council. The ADF was asked for a general comment on Flint’s appointment.

Flint’s seat had solely been held by members of the American Civil Liberties Union prior to her appointment. The ACLU has significant programming around civil rights issues incarcerated people face.

In a comment to the Daily Montanan, civil rights organization Western States Center expressed concern with the move.

“It’s certainly concerning to see the Montana governor replacing an ACLU representative on the state Criminal Justice Oversight Commission with a member of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a powerful anti-LGBTQ law firm that’s behind the majority of anti-transgender bills targeting youth, athletes, and access to restrooms,” Western States Center senior organizer Kate Bitz said. “Nothing about ADF represents expertise in criminal justice reform, and it is bizarre to replace a seat held by the nation’s leading civil rights group with a deep-pocketed SPLC-designated hate group that works to limit the civil rights of Americans under the false guise of ‘religious freedom.’”

Henry Seaton, with ACLU-Montana, held the position prior to Flint, and told the Daily Montanan he found out he wasn’t being reappointed via a short email from Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras on July 18.

He said the council is meant to bring stakeholders to the table, “regardless of political leaning or background” and to discuss those. ACLU-Montana also provides data to the council, which Seaton said was “robust.”

“I think the ACLU, since its founding in Montana, has had decades of experience advocating for civil rights for people interacting with our justice system, whether it’s to try and reduce and end mass incarceration or ensuring free speech rights for people who are incarcerated, basically anything guaranteed under the Constitution,” Seaton said. “The ACLU has a robust history in advocating for both from a policy standpoint and from a legal standpoint.”

Seaton also said the appointment makes the justice oversight council “unnecessarily politicized.”

Seaton provided examples of the work he did in his capacity on the council, including recent work with county attorneys on possibly expanding a work-time credit program for people who are on probation or parole.

“Our worry is that civil rights will not be as effectively advocated for without someone who does not have that same wealth of knowledge and experience as the ACLU of Montana does,” Seaton said.

Flint, according to her LinkedIn page, was a licensed relator in Billings between 2017-’22 and joined the Office of Public Instruction in 2020, where she stayed for about two years. She then joined the ADF in 2022.

Jessica Flint is married to Aaron Flint, a conservative radio talk radio host who often has Montana’s Republican powerbrokers on his show. Campaign finance records show Jessica Flint has given political donations to Gov. Gianforte and current Attorney General Austin Knudsen. The Gianforte Family Foundation has also partnered with Aaron Flint and KBUL Radio in the past.

Aaron Flint did not respond to a comment request regarding his wife’s appointment and the number of times the Governor has appeared on his show during the past year.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to add a comment from Western States Center.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2025/07/24/christian-legal-organization-gains-spot-on-state-criminal-justice-council/

Published and (C) by Daily Montanan
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/