On October 24, New Hampshire state rep­re­sen­ta­tive Renny Cushing (pic­tured) will intro­duce a bill to repeal the state’s death penal­ty. In addi­tion to a bi-par­ti­san group of co-spon­sors, Cushing will be joined by Judge Walter Murphy – a for­mer chief jus­tice of the New Hampshire Superior Court and chair of the New Hampshire Death Penalty Study Commission; Ray Dodge – a for­mer police chief; Bishop Peter Libasci – of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester; and Nancy Filiault – a mur­der vic­tim fam­i­ly mem­ber. Cushing, whose father was mur­dered in 1988, is also the Executive Director of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. In 2000, leg­is­la­tors vot­ed to repeal the death penal­ty, but then-gov­er­nor Jeanne Shaheen vetoed the bill. In 2009, the House also passed a repeal bill. New Hampshire has not had an exe­cu­tion since 1939. New Hampshire’s cur­rent gov­er­nor, Maggie Hassan, has said she would sign a repeal bill.

(K. Stucker, ​“Bill to Repeal NH Death Penalty to Soon Be Unveiled,” Amherst Patch, October 21, 2013). See Victims and Recent Legislation.

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