Jared Polis Fires Clemency Board Members Who Opposed Tina Peters Commutation

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis fired two members of Colorado’s Executive Clemency Advisory Board on Wednesday after they spoke out against his decision to commute the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.

The firings were tied to confidentiality concerns after Polis cited that the officials “breached the required duty of confidentiality by publicly divulging board members’ votes,” according to letters reported by The New York Times.

CNN

Colorado Public Radio reported that Azra Taslimi and Hannah Seigel Proff were dismissed Wednesday, with Polis citing concerns about confidentiality after the two spoke out about the clemency review of Peters.

The Colorado Public Radio account said Polis commuted Peters’ sentence 48 days earlier over concerns about her right to free speech, and that Polis overruled the advisory board’s decision after it twice rejected Peters’ request for clemency.

CNN reported that Polis fired Taslimi and Proff after they spoke out publicly, including in a New York Times article in June, revealing secret details about the clemency process and criticizing the governor for overruling the board.

Azra Taslimi, a Denver lawyer removed from the board, told The New York Times that Polis was saying “the public doesn’t have the right to know his own advisory board told him no — twice,” framing the firings as a move “He’s not protecting a process. He’s protecting himself from scrutiny.”

Hannah Seigel Proff said she was “kicked off the board for, again, asserting our right to speech ... is hypocritical and disappointing,” describing the dismissal as inconsistent with Polis’ stated rationale for freeing Peters.

Democracy Docket

Colorado Public Radio quoted Polis’ letter explaining the firings were “terminated, effective immediately,” and that the governor’s office cited the “sensitive nature of the clemency process” and the need for confidentiality in handling clemency applications.

CNN reported that Taslimi said she was “not upset that he overrode our decision,” but that what was “upsetting is that we understand why he did it,” describing it as “selective mercy” because Peters had “a powerful ally behind her.”

In a statement to CNN, Eric Maruyama said publicly disclosing “board recommendations and how members vote on any case threatens the credibility of the board,” and CNN later reported Maruyama added that the decision was not about disagreement on a case but about disclosing how members voted.

The dispute over the Peters clemency decision has continued to reverberate in Colorado politics after Polis commuted Peters’ nearly nine-year prison sentence, with Democracy Docket reporting that Polis reduced Peters’ nine-year sentence and that she was released on parole earlier this month.

CNN reported that Polis primarily justified the release by citing a Colorado appeals court ruling that found the trial judge violated Peters’ First Amendment rights by improperly punishing her for protected speech about the 2020 election.

The Hill reported that Polis’ press secretary Eric Maruyama said disclosing clemency board recommendations and how members vote “threatens the credibility of the board, colors future deliberations by the board and breaks clearly stated confidentiality” guidelines in an executive order signed in 2019.

Colorado Public Radio said Polis commuted Peters’ sentence in May and that on May 31 the governor authored a blog post on Substack concluding with a promise of a follow-up reflecting on the reaction to the decision.

CNN also reported that Proff worried that after being terminated, “people are less likely to speak out,” and that “politicians will go unchecked on these sort of decisions,” as the clemency process remains closed-door.