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 U.S.: New Hampshire Governor Vetoes Anti-Death Penalty Measure
The state legislature will likely be unable to muster the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor’s veto. New Hampshire’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bill, but the vote in the Senate was 12-11 in favor of the measure. New Hampshire has not imposed the death penalty in 65 years, and the state has not executed a juvenile offender since colonial times. In fact, the state executed only 12 adult offenders in the 70 years from 1869 to 1939. In addition, the state’s death penalty statute is extremely narrow. It applies to murders of police and judicial officers, and murders for hire. Those who kill in the course of a kidnapping, rape or certain drug offenses or commit murder after being sentenced to life without parole are also eligible for the death penalty. Gov. Benson explicitly invoked the provision relating to the killing of law enforcement officers when he announced his veto. In remarks reported in the Manchester Union Leader on May 11, he said, “When someone—regardless of their age—is bold enough to take the life of a police officer, there should be no exception; they should pay the ultimate price.” The legislature’s efforts to raise the minimum age for capital punishment mirror the national trend. Most recently, South Dakota and Wyoming abolished the juvenile death penalty in March 2004. Several other states, including Alabama and Florida, are considering such measures. Overall, 31 U.S. states and the federal government prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders, including the 12 states that have abolished the death penalty entirely. No state has ever lowered the minimum age for capital punishment. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to reconsider whether the execution of juvenile offenders violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.” The last time it spoke on the issue, in its 1989 decision in Stanford v. Kentucky, the court held that states may impose capital punishment on those who were 16 and 17 at the time of their crimes. Four U.S. Supreme Court justices are already on record as opposing the execution of those who were under age 18 at the time of their crimes. When the court in October 2002 refused to hear a renewed constitutional challenge to the juvenile death penalty by the Kentucky death row inmate Kevin Stanford (the same Stanford who came before the court in 1989), Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer characterized the execution of juvenile offenders as “a relic of the past” and concluded, “We should put an end to this shameful practice.” And when the Supreme Court reconsiders the juvenile death penalty in October, it will do so against the backdrop of its June 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia. In that case, the court found that imposing the death penalty on offenders with mental retardation was unconstitutional, reasoning that a national consensus had developed against such executions. Writing for the majority, Justice Stevens stated in Atkins, “It is not so much the number of these States that is significant, but the consistency of the direction of change.” With that in mind, the New Hampshire governor’s refusal to let the bill become law is probably less important than the fact that the legislature sent it to him. The governor’s veto is largely symbolic. The state lawmakers’ support for the measure, in contrast, reflects the reality that New Hampshire is unlikely ever to seek the death penalty for a crime committed by someone below age 18. Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances because of its cruel and inhumane nature. The cornerstone of human rights is respect for the inherent dignity of all human beings and the inviolability of the human person. These principles cannot be reconciled with the death penalty, a form of punishment unique in its barbarity and finality. The intrinsic fallibility of all criminal justice systems assures that even when full due process of law is respected, innocent persons may be executed. Updated May 11, 2004 |
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