State of New Hampshire ______GENERAL COURT ______CONCORD
State of New Hampshire ________________ GENERAL COURT ______________ CONCORD MEMORANDUM DATE: December 1, 2010 TO: Honorable John H. Lynch, Governor Speaker of the House President of the Senate House Clerk Senate Clerk Michael York, State Librarian FROM: Hon. Walter L. Murphy, Chair SUBJECT: Final Report on HB 520, Chapter 284, Laws of 2009 Pursuant to HB 520, Chapter 284, Laws of 2009, please find attached the Final Report of the Commission to Study the Death Penalty in New Hampshire. 2 Contents Message from the Chair 5 Introduction 7 Majority Report 9 Minority Report 49 Individual Commission Member Statements 91 Walter Murphy 93 Philip Gaiser 99 James MacKay 101 Sherilyn Young 105 John Kissinger 111 John Jaskolka 113 Randy Hawkes 115 Amanda Merrill 119 James Reams & Charles Putnam 121 Theodore Smith 133 Philip McLaughlin 135 Bradley Whitney 141 Robert Cushing 145 Appendix 153 New Hampshire Capital Murder Statutes 155 Commission Biographies 161 Witness List 171 Legislative History Memo 175 3 4 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR There are few issues which have aroused as much controversy and as much spirited and impassioned debate as the Death Penalty. Many well-intentioned and principled citizens support it while others, equally well-intentioned and principled, urge its abolition. The legislature, in 2009, had a number of bills relative to the Death Penalty under consideration as a result of which this Commission was created to conduct a study of its practical implications and to make recommendations to the legislature based upon our conclusions. In accordance with the legislative mandate, the Commission, since its inception in October, 2009, has conducted meetings on a more or less monthly basis at which over 70 witnesses have appeared to give their views, both pro and con.
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