{"id":1314,"date":"2026-05-22T13:07:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1314"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:07:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:07:36","slug":"gov-polis-stands-by-decision-to-commute-tina-peters-sentence-despite-censure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1314","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Polis stands by decision to commute Tina Peters\u2019 sentence despite censure"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>\n<p><em>This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DENVER<\/strong> | Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday defended his decision to\u00a0commute\u00a0the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a day after the Colorado Democratic Party voted to\u00a0censure\u00a0him over the decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Peters, an election denier and prominent ally of President Donald Trump, was\u00a0convicted\u00a0in 2024 for her role in a breach of her office\u2019s election system.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Just because the Democratic Party doesn\u2019t want him speaking at their events doesn\u2019t mean he won\u2019t attend them, Polis said, but there are other events he\u2019s invited to that he can opt to attend instead of official party events, such as those related to charity, hunger relief or education.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really proud to be a Democrat,\u201d Polis said, adding that he\u2019d rather be a Democrat than a member of a party that is \u201ctrying to abolish primaries, as the Republican Central Committee has been focused on doing here in the last few months.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado Republican Party has been in court since 2023\u00a0seeking to block\u00a0unaffiliated voters from participating in their primary elections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Polis answered questions from reporters about Peters\u2019 case Thursday at the Governor\u2019s Mansion in Denver after he signed an executive order taking several actions intended to encourage Coloradans to eat healthier.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Polis said the Peters case \u201calways bothered\u201d him, because consideration of her speech by the judge in her case \u201cis really very contrary to the First Amendment.\u201d He cited a recent Colorado Court of Appeals\u00a0decision, which\u00a0said the trial court improperly took into consideration Peters\u2019 protected expression of beliefs while determining her sentence, and it ordered a resentencing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Arguments over her sentence detract from what should be \u201cthe broad-based condemnation of the illegal acts that Tina Peters committed, along with the reputation of any conspiracy theories that she believes in,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>Defendants can believe in \u201ca variety of conspiracy theories\u201d that can be potentially relevant to their motive, Polis said, but those beliefs should not influence their sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the rightful conviction of the felonies she\u2019s convicted for, which will stand, was not in question by the jury. It was very clear she committed these criminal acts, but the fact that she holds certain beliefs should not impact the sentencing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The governor\u2019s decision, which came after a year-long campaign of legal pressure and coercion by Trump and other far-right election deniers seeking Peters\u2019 release, was roundly condemned by Coloradans from across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>All six Democratic members of Colorado\u2019s congressional delegation and numerous state lawmakers and local officials have blasted the commutation. Some Democrats have called for Polis to be impeached. The Republican district attorney who prosecuted Peters and the bipartisan Colorado County Clerks Association have also expressed deep disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>Peters\u2019 involvement in the breach of her office\u2019s secure elections equipment was part of a failed attempt\u00a0to find evidence of election fraud, and she has continued to espouse election conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n<h4>Question of free speech<\/h4>\n<p>Polis previously said he wouldn\u2019t act until after the state appeals court released a decision on Peters\u2019 sentence. Other legal processes are still playing out in the Peters case, but Polis said they could have taken years, and the clemency process is distinct from the courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s very important to make this statement of support for our First Amendment rights and to make sure that going forward, we have a precedent ensuring that judges do not take into consideration the free speech of a convict when setting their sentence,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>The commutation should not detract from the work he has done to take on the Trump administration, such as\u00a0co-founding\u00a0Governors Safeguarding Democracy, protecting state elections from federal interference, and defending immigrants and civil rights, Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the same time, we should not be sacrificing our ideals to do that,\u201d Polis said. He cited the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s Skokie decision, in which the court ruled the town of Skokie, Illinois, could not prohibit a Nazi group from conducting a march in the town since it would violate the group\u2019s free speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Polis said he has not spoken with Trump or members of the administration since he issued Peters\u2019 commutation last week. He didn\u2019t directly respond to a question about concerns that his decision could encourage future election interference, and he said he\u2019d ask anyone with those concerns what they think an appropriate sentence for Peters would have been.<\/p>\n<p>She was initially sentenced to nine years. Polis cut her sentence to four and a half years, ordering her\u00a0release\u00a0from state prison on June 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1308\">\u2018Once Upon a Time in Harlem\u2019 has its day at the Cannes Film Festival, 50 years after it was shot<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1310\">Rami Malek explores art, love and death in Ira Sachs\u2019 Cannes entry \u2018The Man I Love\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1312\">Aurora moves to create \u2018independent\u2019 police oversight office amid state reform mandate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. DENVER | Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday defended his decision to\u00a0commute\u00a0the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a day after the Colorado Democratic Party voted to\u00a0censure\u00a0him over the decision.\u00a0 Peters, an election denier and prominent ally of President Donald Trump, was\u00a0convicted\u00a0in 2024 for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[1909,1788,45,1306,1910,496],"class_list":["post-1314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","tag-colorado-county-clerks-association","tag-colorado-democratic-party","tag-donald-trump","tag-jared-polis","tag-mesa-county","tag-tina-peters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gov. Polis stands by decision to commute Tina Peters\u2019 sentence despite censure - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gov. Polis stands by decision to commute Tina Peters\u2019 sentence despite censure - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. DENVER | Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday defended his decision to\u00a0commute\u00a0the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a day after the Colorado Democratic Party voted to\u00a0censure\u00a0him over the decision.\u00a0 Peters, an election denier and prominent ally of President Donald Trump, was\u00a0convicted\u00a0in 2024 for [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T13:07:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1314#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1314\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"Gov. 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