CONCORD, NH – Governor Chris Sununu vetoed a bill that would repeal the death penalty in New Hampshire for capital murder convictions after January 2019. The bill is likely to return to the legislature for a veto override vote sometime this year. The people’s elected representatives sent a clear bipartisan message this legislative session in support of repeal. The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 223 to 116 (2 to 1), and the Senate voted 14 to 10 in support of repeal.
Quote from Devon Chaffee, Executive Director of ACLU-NH: “We are disappointed by the Governor’s decision to veto death penalty repeal. This archaic practice is discriminatory and unjust, and does not reflect New Hampshire values. We encourage the legislature to reaffirm its bipartisan commitment to justice by overriding the veto and finally repealing the death penalty.
“We know our judicial system is not infallible. Every day we keep the death penalty on the books is a day that we risk the ultimate injustice of convicting an innocent person to death row.
We are the last state in the region to still have the death penalty. This issue has been debated year in and year out for years, with clear momentum towards repeal. The legislature has the opportunity to finally put this issue to rest, reaffirm Granite State values, and vote in support of justice.”