My jaw still hurts from when it dropped into my lap last week when Gov. Jared Polis wiped away years of remaining prison time for former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.
Polis should have waited.
Sure, I like to hate on Peters as much as the next cogent fan of our democracy for the crimes she committed, the damage she caused, the public money she misspent and for her perpetually smug demeanor in believing her lord and savior Donald Trump would come save her sorry ass and install her in a much-deserved suite at Mar-a-Lago, where she should get what she deserved.
But here’s the thing, having had a front row seat to Polis’ career for decades now — as a state school board member, owner of an Aurora Spanish language cinema, school for immigrants on Lowry, member of Congress and, now, governor — I shouldn’t have been surprised.
And, having taken a few more deep breaths, I can’t say he’s wrong in doing what was clearly the right thing, with a couple of caveats.
I shouldn’t have been surprised because the move to excuse Peters from prison was just so Polis.
I’ve previously disagreed with the governor on some big and serious issues, but I’ve come to understand that nearly every decision he makes is based on an acute sense of pragmatism and fairness powered by intense confidence that comes with epic nerdism and believers in dad jokes.
Polis believes that school-age inoculations are important, but allowing parents to decide that issue for themselves is the right thing to do. I believe that if you don’t want to get Little Johnny an MMR, homeschool the little human petri dish and stay out of public places.
But here, I can’t disagree with Polis’ clear logic that the state court of appeals, which is hardly a bastion of Trumpism, ruled that Peters was wrongly sentenced by Grand Junction District Court Judge Matthew Barrett back in 2024.
Like so many of you, I have gleefully replayed Barrett’s sentencing speech as he excoriated Peters for her calamitous crimes and her wisenheimer whack story.
But Polis points out what the court of appeals did, too. At her sentencing, Barrett made it clear he was sending her elderly self to the hoosgow, practically for good, because of her endless national tour of crackpot conspiracy theories and smug lies about Trump.
Barrett clearly crossed the line by punishing Peters for what was world-class stupid and abhorrent free speech, but not criminal.
If it were a criminal offense for an elected official to espouse unfounded, dangerous, even life-threatening lies, conspiracy theories and all-around nuttery, the entire Trump administration would be behind bars right now with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking the guard for straws for everyone in his prison cell to get a little something off the toilet seat.
As despicable as were the things Peters said and promoted, they were just despicable.
As to how long Peters should stay in prison for lying about trying to “un-rig” voting machines and covering up her deeds and lies, I think a court should decide that.
Polis thought differently.
The state court of appeals ordered her sentence to be revised based on their ruling about free speech. I don’t get why Polis didn’t wait for that revised ruling and then act, if he needed to.
And, I certainly get that Peters is an old, mentally ill woman who really belongs in a psych unit, not a prison, which is not unlike thousands of people in Colorado jails and prisons.
Now, there’s an effort among Democrats to “censure” Polis for his mercy ruling.
As ghastly and tragic as the Peters-Trump-Hegseth-Noem-Kennedy-Bondi-Patel freak show debacle has been, it would be equally as tragic if Polis being very Polis about Peters were to have all this define his long and remarkable political career.
He should have waited.
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