March 11, 2026 10:48 AM UTC

Polis Wisely Punts On Tina Peters Commutation

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Denver Post’s Seth Klamann reports, after provoking a five-alarm backlash among Democrats as well as Republicans who care about election integrity by suggesting a commutation of convicted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was imminent, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is now telling lawmakers that he will take no action until after the Colorado Court of Appeals rules on her case:

The update — which came shortly before Democratic lawmakers sent Polis a letter urging him not to intervene — is the first time the governor or his office has offered any sort of timeline for when he may reduce the former Mesa County clerk’s nine-year term of incarceration. It came days after many Democratic officials, in the state Capitol and elsewhere, blasted Polis for a social media post that appeared to confirm that he intended to reduce Peters’ sentence, which he has called “harsh.”

Polis’ office declined to comment on the delayed timeline Tuesday. In a mid-January hearing, a panel of judges at the Court of Appeals signaled skepticism about the length of Peters’ sentence. But there is no firm timeline for when the court will issue a ruling on her appeal.

Back in January, Colorado Newsline reported on Peters’ appeal hearing, in which judges rejected Peters’ conspiracy theory-based defense, but did find some potential problems with certain aspects of the nine-year sentence she received:

A trio of Colorado judges in a hearing Wednesday brushed aside the most sweeping arguments made by attorneys for former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in her appeal of her criminal convictions — but the panel expressed serious concerns about a procedural error in one of her felony charges and the overall fairness of her sentence…

Judges Craig Welling, Ted Tow III and Lino Lipinsky de Orlov of the appellate court raised concerns about that trial during Wednesday’s hearing, questioning whether an improper jury instruction led to Peters’ conviction on a felony charge despite drawing language from a misdemeanor statute. More broadly, the panel appeared sympathetic to arguments made by Peters’ attorneys that her sentencing — which followed statements made by presiding District Court Judge Matthew Barrett calling Peters a “charlatan” who peddled “snake oil” — violated her right to free speech.

A potential reduction in Peters’ sentence based on legitimate findings by an appeals court is very different from a commutation from an elected official under extreme political pressure. A finding by the appeals court that Peters was oversentenced would not require any statement of remorse that at this point no one would accept as genuine. The court could choose to reduce her sentence accordingly without undermining accountability for the crimes she did commit.

Either way, letting the courts settle the question is and always was Gov. Polis’ smartest choice. All of the blowback Polis endured in the last week could have been avoided by simply waiting for the court to rule instead of jumping on social media in a moment of misguided epiphany.

The reason a little more caution is warranted is simple. Donald Trump’s ongoing threat to American democracy shadows every development in Tina Peters’ case. Peters’ freedom is the rallying cry today for the entire movement to rewrite American history on behalf of Trump, erasing the 2020 election defeat his ego cannot bear.

There is a non-political process playing out. Shut up and let it.