New Hampshire has become the 21st state to abolish the death penalty after lawmakers overrode GOP governor Chris Sununu’s veto.
The Democratic-led Senate voted 16-8 Thursday to scrap Sununu’s veto. Last week, the state House also narrowly approved an override of the veto. Both chambers needed a two-thirds majority to nullify Sununu’s decision. The bill changes the penalty for capital murder to ‘life imprisonment without the possibility for parole.”
Sununu, 44, expressed his disappointment with the decision. “I have consistently stood with law enforcement, families of crime victims, and advocates for justice in opposing a repeal of the death penalty because it is the right thing to do. I am incredibly disappointed that the Senate chose to override my veto,” he said.
I have consistently stood with law enforcement, families of crime victims, and advocates for justice in opposing a repeal of the death penalty because it is the right thing to do. I am incredibly disappointed that the Senate chose to override my veto.
— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) May 30, 2019
New Hampshire is now the 21st state to abolish the death penalty. There have only been seven instances of the capital punishment being used in the state’s history, with the last execution occurring in 1939.
There is one man on death row in the state, 39-year-old Michael Addison. Addison was found guilty of killing police officer Michael Briggs more than a decade ago. Thursday’s repeal does not apply retroactively to Addison. Sununu signed the veto for the bill last month at a community center named after Briggs.
[Opinion: Someone tell Alabama that pro-life means opposing the death penalty]
