“Election denial” was really hot 5 years ago. The ‘Election Denial’ moral panic led to mass censorship and claims that anyone denying an election result was a dangerous insurrectionist who needed to be locked up and posed a threat to democracy.
Like a lot of these feverish bouts of temporary insanity, it faded to the point where Democrat judges are questioning some of the hysterical rhetoric under which Tina Peters was convicted and sentenced.
Judges also raised concerns that Peters’ sentence — more than 8 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections — was harsh in a way that infringed on her First Amendment rights. Judges zeroed in on language at the sentencing by 21st Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Barrett wherein he called her a “charlatan” and said she was peddling “snake oil.”
Judge Craig Welling questioned why Peters was barred from making arguments about the election during trial but those claims were brought up during sentencing.
“My concern is that it did substantially inform the sentence that was imposed, and that creates some constitutional problems. And you don’t get to ride both horses,” Welling said.
“He can’t sentence her more because he doesn’t agree with what she’s saying,” said Judge Tow.
“The court cannot punish her for her First Amendment rights,” Appeals Judge Craig Welling said.
The three judges all expressed concern about District Court Judge Matthew Barrett’s statements during Peters’ sentencing. He called her a “charlatan” and said she posed a danger to the community for spreading lies about voting and undermining the democratic process. “My read of the (sentencing) transcript is that the judge considered that, and it went into the calculation of the sentence,” Welling said. “And that’s a First Amendment problem.”
He added that the issue “fundamentally calls into question the fairness of the sentence.”
Welling, I should note, is a Democrat who was close to a former governor. At least some of the fever is breaking or it’s being redirected to other issues.
In 2020, it was vital for Dems to brand any challenge to the election as treason and subversion. Now that Trump is in office, it’s a much less vital project. And that could change dramatically in 2028 as their political interests do.
