New Hampshire: Death penalty suspension coming up for Senate vote

New Hampshire's scenic Mount Washington Valley

New Hampshire's state Senate is poised to take up a bill that would effectively end use the death penalty in the state without flat-out repealing it.

Republican Sen. Kevin Avard is the primary sponsor of a bipartisan measure to "suspend" use of the death penalty until "methods exist to ensure that the death penalty cannot be imposed on an innocent person."

New Hampshire is the only state in New England with the death penalty still on the books, and efforts to repeal it in 2014 deadlocked in the 24-member Senate.

The vote in Thursday's Senate session will be close, likely with 1 or 2 votes determining the outcome.

Not all senators could be reached Friday by The Associated Press for a full vote count.

Source: Associated Press, February 29, 2016

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