The Senate hearing on SB 593  on March 12 was powerful and the number of witness in favor of the bill outnumbered opponents by more than 5 to 1. Among those testifying in favor were: Senator Kevin Avard (prime sponsor); Randy Steidl, death row exoneree; Greg Smith, former NH Attorney General; Ray Dodge, former Marlborough NH Police Chief; Steve Kaneb, Catholic Deacon, Mark Sisti, public defender; Rabbi Robin Nafshi, Len Korn, M.D.; Rev. Jason Wells, NH Council of Churches; Barbara Keshen, and others. You can listen to the full hearing on YouTube here.

You can also hear a couple of powerful excerpts from the hearing on AFSC-NH’s State House Watch podcast here (starting at the 7:20 mark).

Directly after the hearing, The Judiciary Committee held an executive session on the bill and voted 3 to 1 in favor of the OTP (ought to pass) motion.  Senators Lasky, Hennessey, and French voted in favor, Sen. Carson against.

Shortly after that, we discovered that the full Senate will be voting on the bill THIS THURSDAY, March 15.  The bill is listed last on the Senate Addendum Calendar, and may therefore be heard later in the sesssion, though that could change. If you can attend in support of this bill, please do.

Since time is short to influence your senator, if you have not already written to him or her, please do so right away. Simply use the following form:

• Write your legislator (your legislators will be listed after you enter your address – please choose your senator from the list)

We sincerely appreciate your help sending a strong and incontrovertible message.

PS. On Twitter, please use #NHRepealDP & #NHPolitics for hashtags on your posts.

Great news! Today, Senate Bill 593, a bill to repeal New Hampshire’s death penalty statute, was posted on the NH General Court website. Better news: the bill has broad bipartisan support, with 13 senators already listed as co-sponsors. The full-cosponsor list (House and Senate) includes:

Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Daniels, Dist 11; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Giuda, Dist 2; Sen. French, Dist 7; Sen. Woodburn, Dist 1; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Sen. Hennessey, Dist 5; Sen. Kahn, Dist 10; Sen. Lasky, Dist 13; Rep. McGuire, Merr. 29; Rep. O’Leary, Hills. 13; Rep. Cushing, Rock. 21; Rep. Kotowski, Merr. 24; Rep. Souza, Hills. 43

The bill will start in the Senate with a hearing sometime over the next few weeks, then proceed to the House after Crossover Day in late March. We will keep you updated as to its progress and will be asking you to help us get this bill passed as you have in the past. Stay tuned!

Press Release

February 21, 2018

Bipartisan Senate Bill to Abolish the Death Penalty 

Statement from Barbara Keshen, Chair, NH Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty 

The New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NHCADP) welcomes the bipartisan Senate Bill 593 that would end capital punishment in the Granite State.  The bill’s list of bipartisan sponsors demonstrates that even in these divisive times, ending capital punishment is an issue that can promote unity and bipartisanship.  The NHCADP looks forward to working with Senator Avard and the other sponsors to pass SB 593 and affirm New Hampshire’s commitment to civil rights.

Granite Staters oppose the death penalty on moral, legal, and economic grounds.  We know there are less expensive and less arbitrary ways to keep our state safe than executing the few whom our criminal justice system arbitrarily sends to death row.  There is no justice in a system that is as arbitrarily and discriminatorily applied as capital punishment.

New Hampshire is the only state in New England that still allows for capital punishment, even though no one has been executed in the state since 1939. It is time for the Granite State to state in law what we have stated in practice by abolishing this archaic practice.

The NHCADP applauds Senator Avard for leading the charge in ending capital punishment, and calls upon all legislators to join together in a show of humanity and unity in abolishing this outdated and unjust practice.