Death Penalty Repeal Bill Passes N.H. House

The New Hampshire House has once again voted to repeal the state's death penalty, this time with a wider margin than in the past.

Last year, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a similar bill, and the Legislature lacked the votes to override. Thursday's vote of 279-88 showed supporters have more than the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto, and the bill now goes to the Senate, where repeal supporters also appear to have a veto-proof majority.

The state hasn't executed anyone since 1939, and the repeal bill would not apply retroactively to Michael Addison, who killed Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006 and is the state's only death row inmate. But supporters of capital punishment argue that courts will see it differently.