HB1413

I oppose this bill.

Murder is wrong

Does this include the ICE member who murdered Renee Good?

Question: When is an individual justified in using deadly force? Answer: Under conditions of a credible imminent threat of grievous bodily harm to self or innocent others. I do not consent to a government that operates under looser requirements than do the individuals for whom it works, that may legally kill without similar sober justification -- even if it could somehow guarantee that it would never get the verdict wrong (which, of course, it can't). No credible imminent threat? No lawful killing. Not even by the State -- perhaps ESPECIALLY not by the State. Simple. And if a defendant in custody IS such a credible imminent threat, then you've got bigger problems.

As I stated in my testimony on HB 1749, the death penalty serves no purpose whatsoever. It is not a deterrent to murder; it is more expensive for than State than life imprisonment without parole; and most importantly, it is immoral. Vote ITL.

I firmly believe that sentencing a criminal to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is far worse a punishment than the death penalty.

Dear Members of Congress, It is fundamentally against the values of liberty and justice for a government to execute its own people in cold blood. NH abolished the death penalty in 2019 for a reason - state executions have no place here. There’s a reason they haven’t been practiced since 1939. Flawed and biased, the death penalty represents the most dangerous tool for human error in our justice system. Sincerely, Will Oliver Center Conway, NH

My father was murdered in California in 1979. Murdering his murderer would have just added violence to violence. Please oppose attempts to reinstate the death penalty.

TO The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee FROM Julien Olivier, DMin—554 Beauty Hill Rd., Barrington, NH 03825 I respectfully submit the following testimony in strong opposition to HB 1740 In 2019 the State of New Hampshire with bipartisan support wisely and overwhelmingly abolished the death penalty (DP). There is no reason to overthrow that decision of the people and their government. I further offer the following reasons for not reinstating the DP. It is… Ethically inconsistent and ineffective Evidence has clearly shown that the application of the death penalty is inconsistent. Innocent people have unjustly been put to death for crimes they did not commit. Only later were the tragic miscarriages of justice uncovered. The death penalty is not a deterrent. Nor does it bring solace to the aggrieved or justice to society. The evidence for each of these arguments is readily available from academic sources as well as individual testimony. See, for example, https://innocenceproject.org; https://rjp.umn.edu (University of Minnesota); and https://www.theforgivenessproect.com. Morally wrong. As a Christian, I find no justification for the DP in the teachings of Jesus. The Hebrew Scriptures taught the lex talionis—an eye for an eye—proportional justice. But Jesus went further. Forgive as you would be forgiven and turn the other cheek. A high bar, indeed! One that few attain but an ideal nonetheless. Difficult as they are, his teachings offer no harbor for State-sponsored murder. That said, the Christian tradition has found some accommodation for warfare and thus, for the death penalty. But the conditions for killing are narrow. They are sometimes summarized as: just cause, right intention, last resort, with no other possible means to protect society. Reasons definitely not found in this tradition are retribution and revenge. Personally, I find no true justification for the death penalty. Does the DP. offer some degree of temporary relief and vindication? Perhaps. However, what might even be initial elation for the perceived end of an evil is often superficial and short-lived. It does not bring the desired peace. I write from my experience and perspective of having worked with incarcerated people for over 35 years—juveniles and adults; persons charged or convicted for misdemeanors and felonies; as a volunteer mentor, teacher, and chaplain in state and county facilities, in Maine, Manchester and Dover, N.H. Although some inmates appear incorrigible, people do change. We—you and I—change and have changed. Who are we to say differently and rule out what in Christian theology is known as metanoia, change of heart? I write as a student of the correctional system and one who has written and spoken about incarceration. Helpful were courses in restorative justice by the University of Minnesota. I write as a certified clinical and correctional chaplain. Finally, I write as a survivor of two armed attempts on my life. I don’t know who they were or what their circumstances were. I know they threatened to kill me, but who am I to judge them? Were these perpetrators ever caught, I’d want them away from society so they wouldn’t hurt others. But my hope would be for their rehabilitation or at least their change of heart.

Capital punishment is cruel and unusual. It is applied arbitrarily. It is disproportionately carried out on people of color. Convicts are found innocent months and years after conviction. The state should not be killing innocent people. Finally and least importantly, state execution is far more expensive than imprisoning the convict for life. NH should spend any budgetary excesses on its living residents and not in killing them.

I oppose this bill on both moral and religous grounds. I do not believe any system of government should have the right or authority to kill its own citizens.

No Death Penalty in New Hampshire

I oppose HB 1413 because reinstating the death penalty increases inequity and risks irreversible injustice.

Do not kill.

In a system that profits off of incarceration and a country that leads the developed world in amount of wrongly accused/ imprisoned people, we are not responsible enough to be utilizing the death penalty as punishment.

I oppose state sanctioned killing.

If NH reinstates the death penalty, we will be taking an unconscionable step backward becoming the only New England state to have such a sanction. The reasons to not restore capital punishment are compelling: moral, economic, uncertainty. As a practicing Christian we must treat life as sacred from the cradle to the grave. LWP is the moral and economic alternative that ensures that convicted individuals can never harm anyone again. For all these reasons I strongly urge you to oppose HB 1413.. Thank you for your consideration, John Walsh

The administration of the death penalty has been shown to discriminate against people of color and poor people, who represent the disproportionate number of people who have been sentenced to death throughout the country.

I oppose the death penalty because of the skewed justice system in our country. As long as we have unfair trials, tainted witness accounts, and inadequate legal representation, I am opposed to the death penalty.

I know someone personally who was accused of murder but later exonerated, years of his life taken from him. This should never happen, but it does.

I want the death penalty to remain repealed in NH. The death penalty is costly and does not deter crime. Most importantly, the government should never murder human beings.

I oppose this bill for a number of reasons: 1. A single capital case could cost NH taxpayers as much as $2.5 million; at that cost, it is not an effective way to lower capital-level crimes. Therefore, it is no benefit to NH's citizens and reputation. 2. Capital punishment gives our government unlimited power: that is an example of over-reaching unlimited power -- big government, in other words. 3. Any judicial system is not 100% reliable and capital punishment is irreversible. Humans make mistakes in prosecutions, in inadequte defenses, in officials' misconduct, in flawed evidence and even in lacking bias. Life without parole is sufficient. 4. All major faiths and belief systems are against capital punishment. Shouldn't justice focus on resotring, not retaliating?

I am a Quaker and completely oppose the use of the death penalty for any crime.

New Hampshire does not need the death penalty. This has already been determined. The effort to restore this punishment is vindictive and cruel. We do not need more state-sponsored violence here.