In an interview on Thursday with CBS Colorado, Polis called Peters’ prison sentence “harsh,” fueling interest in whether or not the 70-year-old Peters could get clemency.
For those who may not recall, Peters was the Mesa County clerk and election denier in 2020 who allowed Trump stooges to access county voting machines to find “fraudulent” votes. She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to 8 years in state prison in 2022. Peters is now 70 years old and this has some people calling for a pardon or clemency for her.
DJT issued a fake pardon a few weeks back and called Gov. Polis (D) names and said he hopes Polis ‘rots in hell’ for not freeing Peters. It appears the rhetoric from Trump and other MAGA types has made Polis’ spine start to dissolve.
There has been talk of Polis running for the D nomination for POTUS at some point in the future. If he caves on this and releases Peters, I for one will never vote for him or support him in any way.
Reporting my bias - I’m a Coloradan and Polis supporter/voter.
While Colorado has been recently pretty blue, we have (unsurprisingly) a lot of bloody red areas of the state. Three-four presidential elections ago, we were more definitely purple. After the currently stayed Executive fuckery with state funding, he may be considering it to keep the heat off. I -hope- instead that it’s more a political ploy that he’ll later say that after multiple requests, he reviewed the case to give it due consideration, and then felt the law and sentence was faithfully and fairly decided by the courts and he wouldn’t intervene.
A little soft-soap for the conservatives, followed by a decided motion in favor of the rule of law.
Time will tell.
ETA - Colorado is in a really weird place right now. We have the old, traditional conservatives out east and west, very Christian, very pro-military. We have a LOT of Californian and other state imports that are bright blue, mostly along the front range and in the resort areas, as well as the more “middle of the road” Democrats in the big cities. The bright blue are pushing (with success overall) us to the left rather aggressively (see our recent gun control rules) but there’s a feeling among some (NOT me) that we’re going to far left too quickly, and there may be a pushback from moderates and Republican’s in-state, ESPECIALLY with the way Trump 2.0 is completely willing to punish states that don’t comply.
As seen on Bluesky recently; if a genie gave Democrats three wishes, they’d negotiate it down to one and then wish for something Republicans would like.
I hope you are correct about what Polis is doing here. Though I am not a Coloradan I have found him to be someone I could support. If he grants clemency to Peters I don’t see any way I could continue feeling good about him.
Polis isn’t looking at a pardon. He says he is open to considering clemency. I find this to be a bad idea as Peters is one of the few who tried to overturn the 2020 election who is seeing any real consequences. Releasing her this early would send a very problematic message.
She isnt going to serve the whole 8 years anyway. Parole comes up in 2028, and from the Ops cite-
Based on Colorado Department of Corrections policies, it’s unlikely Peters would serve the full sentence at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo. In addition to parole, nonviolent offenders are eligible for community corrections beginning 19 months prior to their parole eligibility date. Based on Peters’ current parole eligibility date of Dec. 20, 2028, she could qualify for community corrections in the first half of 2027, though that would likely move up as her parole date shifted for earned time.
So, she will likely get out a year from now, based upon that.
You have every reason to be cynical at this point. Based on what he’s done so far I think I have grounds for my hope, but nationally, the cynical caving is by no means unlikely. I like Polis as governor, and believe he has the skills to be a good President (not the brag it once was), but think we have too many bigots relishing their power nationwide to elect him.
I don’t know if he has the political ambitions to try for a Presidential run, but if he is, well, that could be an entirely different reason to make a wishy-washy decision on this issue.
Super. Let her roll through the system as is intended for 99.999% of prisoners.
Polis shouldn’t get near this. Especially if she is due to get out in a year anyway. Why take the political hit to let someone out a few months before they would get out anyway? That this is even a topic for discussion because Polis apparently seems to be considering it boggles the mind.
If Colorado thinks the law is too draconian then they can change the law. Up to them. Democracy in action. How it should be.
Peters tried to subvert and sabotage democracy. Lots of felons die in prison after knocking over a couple of liquor stores. Peters’s crimes are vastly worse.
She’s also been totally unrepentant. She has the long sentence she does because she fucked around with court proceedings and blatantly violated a judge’s orders. The minute she sees daylight she’ll resume her bullshit.
Let her rot until the very last possible nanosecond of her sentence.
That is what rigorous parole restrictions would help prevent. Those could be “being in any sort of public or political office, or running for one”. Sadly in general they cant muzzle her, But even if she just gets out in late 2027, there will be parole restrictions.
It’s a bit like the current President: a convicted offender … we should assume … would be chastened, constrained, curtailed, and restricted by … rules, conditions, and laws?
Hm.
ETA: And, yes: I do understand that’s generally how Parole works
In general, they cannot leave the state where they were paroled in without permission. Doing so violates parole and the state will take them back to jail if they try it. Of course, the person can ask for permission and I do not think it is unusual to be granted. But…
Even if they are allowed to leave the states cooperate through the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS), which all 50 states participate in. This transfers parole supervision to wherever it is they go while on parole and, I think, the parole restrictions go with that person.
Of couse, if is possible some state might say sure, they will make sure the parole restrictions are adhered to but then do no oversight. Which makes a mess of the whole thing. Welcome to another mess of Trump 2.0.
ETA: BOTH states need to approve the transfer. The state the person needs to approve that the person can move to another state and the destination state also needs to agree that it is ok.
ETA: BOTH states need to approve the transfer. The state the person was paroled in needs to approve that the person can move to another state and the destination state also needs to agree that it is ok.
Seriously!
It would be yet another level of the inordinate fealty to Trump that this nation has somehow descended to.
That’s all we need: Trump with more power.
The above should read: