SHARON BROWN

I am completely opposed to the death penalty, even in crimes against children. I have seen the damage to a person and their family caused by wrongful conviction of a felony. The possibility of permanently taking a wrongfully convicted person away from this world is not something NH should risk. The state killing people is unethical and immoral. Research has shown the death penalty is not a deterrent. Even if you are willing to take the risk, NH can't afford it for financial reasons. The dollar cost is just too high. These costs come from longer trials, specialized attorneys, expert witnesses, and decades of appeals. Life without parole costs far less and keeps the public safe. Every dollar spent pursuing executions is a dollar not spent on policing, rehabilitation, victim services, mental health care, or substance use treatment. If you believe in liberty, small government, and individual rights, the death penalty should trouble you deeply. Capital punishment gives the government the most extreme power imaginable, the power to decide who lives and who dies. Once that power exists, it can be misused. OPPOSE THIS BILL. SAVE THE STATE MONEY, AND SPARE NH THE RISK OF KILLING A WRONGFULLY CONVICTED PERSON.