{"id":491,"date":"2025-03-19T10:02:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T11:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spanishliteratureintranslation.com\/?p=491"},"modified":"2025-03-27T12:14:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T12:14:23","slug":"kafer-no-tina-peters-should-not-go-free-only-a-few-months-into-her-9-year-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/spanishliteratureintranslation.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/kafer-no-tina-peters-should-not-go-free-only-a-few-months-into-her-9-year-sentence\/","title":{"rendered":"Kafer: No, Tina Peters should not go free only a few months into her 9-year sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: This column ran as a pro-con with another column that supported the possibility of Gov. Jared Polis granting clemency for Tina Peters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Remember when Republicans were tough on crime? Lock \u2018em up and throw away the key? If you don\u2019t want to do the time, don\u2019t do the crime? My have times changed. The U.S. Department of Justice, under Republican leadership, is trying to undo the state conviction of former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters for giving an unauthorized man access to voting equipment during a software update.<\/p>\n

Peters was found guilty of four felonies and three misdemeanors:<\/a> three counts of trying to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of violation of duty, one count of first degree official misconduct, and one count of failing to comply with the Secretary of State\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n

Back in 2021, Peters stole a Mesa County contract employee\u2019s security badge and gave it to a man known for supporting the conspiracy theories about the 2020 election spewed by pillow magnate Mike Lindell. Using the fake identity to gain access to a secure area with state officials conducting a system upgrade, the man copied a machine’s hard drive and passwords and made them public. Because of the security breach, the equipment had to be decommissioned at taxpayer expense.<\/p>\n

Peters showed no remorse, despite no evidence being found on the hard drive to support her conspiracy, and her legal defense was paltry.<\/p>\n

A jury of her peers were not impressed. They voted to convict after Republican Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein presented evidence that she had, among other things, conspired to help someone impersonate an election official.<\/p>\n

Rather than throw herself to the mercy of the court, she used her time on the stand to double down on conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

21st Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced Peters to nine years in prison<\/a>, noting her lack of remorse.<\/p>\n

Peters is appealing the conviction in federal District Court which is her right as a defendant. She is asking a court to release her on bond \u201cpending appellate review of her case because the denial of bail pending review violates Ms. Peters\u2019 rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution, specifically her rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and her immunity from state prosecution for her compliance with her duty commanded by federal statute pursuant to the Supremacy Clause and the Privileges or Immunities Clause,\u201d the filing stated.<\/p>\n

She is asking to be able to stay in her Grand Junction home, continue to work, go to doctor\u2019s appointments, and visit her mother. In the meanwhile she is still serving a six-month sentence in Larimer County jail for the misdemeanor convictions which precede her nine-year prison term for the more serious charges.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice says it is going to review the state conviction even though it has no authority whatsoever to do so. Yaakov Roth, an acting assistant attorney general, said the conviction can be reviewed citing an executive order by President Donald Trump titled, \u201cEnding the Weaponization of The Federal Government,\u201d which questions whether the case was \u201coriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Peters had been a Democrat election supervisor sabotaging election equipment on behalf a Democrat candidate, Trump and supporters would have most certainly found her conviction an act of actual justice. Instead they want Gov. Jared Polis to pardon her.<\/p>\n