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Death Penalty Repeal Goes Before N.H. House This Week

Ben McLeod
/
Flickr Creative Commons

House lawmakers are set to take up a bill this week that would repeal New Hampshire’s death penalty.

The bill goes before the full House on Wednesday and comes with a favorable recommendation from the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

This isn’t the first time state  lawmakers have weighed repeal.

The House and Senate passed a bill to repeal the death penalty in 2000, but Governor Jeanne Shaheen vetoed the measure.

The House approved another version of the bill four years ago, but it stalled in the Senate after Governor John Lynch threatened a veto.

Death penalty opponents say the effort stands its best chance this year, with Governor Maggie Hassan saying she would sign the bill.

But it would need the support of the Republican-led Senate before getting to her desk.

New Hampshire hasn’t executed anyone since 1939.

The bill would not affect Michael Addison, the state’s lone death row inmate, who was convicted of murdering Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006.

The Supreme Court is currently weighing an appeal of Addison’s conviction.

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.
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