The question no court has answered: Was Tina Peters jailed for speech?
By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice
Despite months and months of litigation in both state and federal courts, no appellate court has ruled on whether Tina Peters’ speech was constitutionally protected—or whether it was improperly used to justify keeping her behind bars.
Her bond challenge stalled in Colorado’s appellate court, which dismissed it as untimely. She's also turned to federal court, where her habeas petition was rejected under the Younger abstention doctrine. Even after a certificate of appealability was denied at the district court level, her case now proceeds forward in the Tenth Circuit—still without an answer to the First Amendment question at its core.
Peters’ case is now moving through two separate court systems.
Peters’ conviction is b...
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