AP coverage is, "Opponents urge end to death penalty in N.H.," by Lynne Tuohy. It's via SeaCoast Online.
Led by former state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick, New Hampshire death penalty opponents pressed for repeal at a marathon Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Thursday.< p/ >p/>More than 50 people, including the relatives of murder victims, former prosecutors and retired police officers, urged repeal. Less than a dozen spoke in favor of keeping the death penalty intact, including representatives of four police agencies, who called capital punishment a "strategic tool" to deal with the worst of criminals.
The state is the closest to repealing the death penalty that it's been since 2000, when both houses of the Legislature approved a proposal but then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen vetoed it.
Last month, the House passed a repeal measure 225-104. Its outcome in the 18-member, Republican-controlled Senate is too close to call, lawmakers said.
The Concord Monitor reports, "N.H. Senate committee hears testimony on death penalty repeal," by Kathleen Ronayne.
The chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned yesterday whether passing a bill to repeal the death penalty would remove the state’s ability to execute Michael Addison, despite legislative intent to keep his death sentence in place.
Sen. Sharon Carson, a Londonderry Republican and repeal opponent, raised this issue during a committee hearing on the repeal bill, which has already passed through the House. Supporters of repeal have long said the bill would be prospective, meaning it wouldn’t affect Addison’s case. But Carson pointed to a piece of the bill yesterday that repeals the state laws governing how executions are carried out, including who performs them and what method is used.
“My concern is what will happen to the person that’s currently on death row if we have no method to conduct an execution,” Carson said during the hearing.
"Fate of cop-killer Michael Addison shapes death penalty repeal debate before Senate panel," by Garry Rayno for the New Hampshire Union Leader.
New Hampshire needs to repeal the death penalty, judges, police, religious leaders and victims' family members told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.
About 200 people filled Representatives Hall for a public hearing on House Bill 1170, which would end the death penalty for capital murder and replace it with life without parole.
A large majority of those testifying supported repeal. But several police officers and representatives said the death penalty helps keep the public safe because it acts as a deterrent.
Earlier coverage of the New Hampshire repeal legislation begins at the link.
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