Earlier today, Governor Chris Sununu vetoed a bill that would have ended New Hampshire’s death penalty. He did this despite overwhelming favorable votes in both Republican-controlled chambers of the state’s legislature and after receiving petition signatures from over 50k people across the country who support repeal.
Repeal would be a done deal if not for Governor Sununu’s veto.
This should be a no-brainer. New Hampshire’s death penalty is notorious for siphoning millions of dollars on capital cases that drag on for decades and never actually result in an execution. Governor Sununu has heard death row exonerees, religious leaders, thousands of Granite Staters, and even families of homicide victims, the very community the Governor cites as a reason to keep the system in place. These family members say the death penalty drags surviving families through an agonizing process and that the money would be better spent in meeting their critical needs, such as trauma and grief counseling, funeral assistance, and restitution of lost wages.
Members of law enforcement have also asked that the governor recognize how the death penalty fails on public safety. They point to the decades of research demonstrating that it is not a deterrence to violence. More, they say, it drains resources from programs that actually do support police in their day-today challenges.
Lawmakers could schedule an override at any time between now and November. Two-thirds of each legislative chamber must vote in favor of repeal in order to override the Governor’s veto.
No matter what happens in New Hampshire in the coming days and weeks, the work on the ground is a huge contribution to our work to end the death penalty nationally. Thank you for being a part of this movement and for everything you have done to get a step closer to a world without the death penalty.
