April 26
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Death penalty repeal passes House; faces Sununu veto
The House of Representatives has joined the Senate in voting to repeal the
death penalty in New Hampshire, but not by the margin needed to override an
anticipated veto by Gov. Chris Sununu.
The 223-to-116 vote on Thursday came after a debate in which representatives
restated many of the arguments made in hearings before House and Senate
committees.
The state Senate voted 14-10 on March 16 to pass the death penalty repeal bill,
SB 593.
Much of the debate has centered on whether such a move would affect the planned
execution of the only convict on death row in the state.
The House has voted in the past to repeal the death penalty in New Hampshire,
the only New England state with capital punishment still on the books. The
Senate deadlocked on the issue 12-12 in 2016 and 2014.
Gov. Chris Sununu has already said he supports the current death penalty law
and will veto the repeal effort if it gets to his desk. A two-thirds majority
will be needed to override the veto.
The Senate was two votes short of the 16 votes needed to override.
The House will need around 255 votes to override a Sununu veto, depending on
how many representatives are present when the vote is taken.
The state's death penalty has not been used since 1939, and no one was on death
row for decades until Michael Addison was convicted in the murder of Manchester
police officer Michael Briggs in 2008.
The prospect of Addison's sentence being reduced to life in prison without the
possibility of parole dominated much of the debate, with opponents of repeal
calling for justice on behalf of the officer's surviving family.
The bill states that repeal can only be applied moving forward, suggesting that
Addison's death sentence remains in place even if the bill passes.
But opponents of repeal cited an advisory memo from Attorney General Gordon
MacDonald, who said Addison's sentence would “probably not” remain in place if
the death penalty is repealed.
MacDonald cited court rulings in other states where the death penalty has been
repealed, and noted that no convict on death row has ever been executed in a
state once it repeals the death penalty.
(source: Union Leader)
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