This week, Senate Bill 593-FN, was made accessible to the public! In the words of the bill, it would change “the penalty for capital murder to life imprisonment without the possibility for parole.” Read the full bill on the New Hampshire General Court website.
All of our member churches agree that the death penalty should be repealed. Several years ago, the NH Council of Churches members passed a public policy statement with the Biblical and theological reasons for repeal which you can read here.
Before long, the NH Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the NH Council of Churches, the ACLU-NH and other organizations will bring information forward about scheduled hearings and other ways of making your voice heard. For now, however, we encourage you to thank the numerous state senators and representatives who have already co-sponsored SB593. Those legislators are:
- Senator Kevin Avard (District 12)
- Representative Renny Cushing (Rockingham 2)
- Senator Gary Daniels (District 11)
- Senator Dan Feltes (District 15)
- Senator Harold French (District 07)
- Senator Martha Fuller Clark (District 21)
- Senator Bob Giuda (District 02)
- Senator Martha Hennessey (District 05)
- Senator Jay Kahn (District 10)
- Representative Frank Kotowski (Merrimack 24)
- Senator Bette Lasky (District 13)
- Representative Carol McGuire (Merrimack 29)
- Representative Richard O’Leary (Hillsborough 13)
- Senator Donna Soucy (18)
- Representative Kathleen Souza (Hillsborough 43)
- Senator Ruth Ward (District 08)
- Senator David Watters (District 04)
- Senator Jeff Woodburn (District 01)
Thank you to the state senators and representatives who have the moral courage to co-sponsor death penalty repeal! If you live in one of these districts, please reach out to your senator or representative and offer them your “thank you” as well. In coming days, they will receive many attacks for their stance and it’s important to show your support. To get their contact information, go to these websites: