“The death penalty is cruel, ineffective and inherently flawed,” said Senator Hennessey, speaking first and for the majority opinion of the Judiciary Committee, which voted 4-1 to recommend passage. Hennessey added, “the taking of another life cannot do the one thing that everyone wants — to bring back their family member.”

Senator French spoke of the “compelling testimony” of the many people who testified in favor of repeal before the Judiciary Committee. “I won’t turn a deaf ear” to these witnessses, said French.

Speaking for the minority opinion on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Carson claimed that for some people, the death penalty is justice, and that New Hampshire applies the law narrowly. She warned that NH’s sole death row prisoner would likely have his death sentence commuted to life in prison, should the bill become law.

Senator Levesque said the “people of color and the poor and impacted disporportionately,” citing national statistics regarding the application of the death penalty.

Senator Ward, whose father was murdered before she was 8 years old, rose to say that “my mother forgave whoever it was, and I will vote in favor of this bill.”

After the vote, Barbara Keshen, chair of the NH Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said, “If all of those votes stay strong, the New Hampshire Legislature should have support to override the governor’s veto,” adding that “we are on our way to becoming the 21st state without the death penalty.” Watch her message here (click image to watch):

Gov. Sununu has continued to indicate his opposition to the bill, saying he will veto it as he did with last year’s repeal bill, SB 593. If he does, the Legislature is likely to hold override votes as early as later this month.

If you have not already done so, would you kindly take a few moments today to write to your Senator to thank them for their vote last week? (See roll call below). You can click on their names below to get to their page and email address, or use our online tool here.

Also, if you have not yet thanked your House Rep(s) for their yea vote, please do so (see roll call here).

Media Coverage

Did you catch Barbara Keshen and Chuck Douglas debating the death penalty on WMUR? Watch here or click image below.

Other press coverage of the Senate vote:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/us/death-penalty-new-hampshire.html
• https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/new-hampshire-lawmakers-vote-repeal-death-penalty-veto-proof-majority-n993526
• https://manchesterinklink.com/senate-passes-death-penalty-repeal-by-veto-proof-margin/
• https://www.latimes.com/opinion/enterthefray/la-ol-new-hampshire-ending-death-penalty-20190412-story.html
• https://www.ledgertranscript.com/Legislature-passes-death-penalty-repeal-bill-24815245

To watch the full Senate discussion and vote, click here, or click on the image above.

Roll Call on HB-455: