No stomach for capital punishment
Tennessee stepped into the limelight with two recent failed attempts to carry out executions. The second, an effort to kill Christa Pike by lethal injection, resulted in a gruesome spectacle capturing national attention.
Botched executions in the U.S. are becoming increasingly common. Since 2021, preferred methods have included lethal injection, firing squad, and lethal gas, all with horrifying outcomes.
As a family member of a murder victim in New Hampshire, I deeply sympathize with the Briggs family in their loss. Yet killing the man who took my daughter’s life couldn’t bring her back. I’m convinced it wouldn’t make New Hampshire safer. States with capital punishment tend to have higher murder rates than those that don’t. There’s no proven correlation between state-sanctioned killing and prevention.
Legislation to abolish the death penalty in New Hampshire passed both houses in 2019 and survived a veto by then-governor Sununu. Many people assumed that included the state’s only death row inmate, Michael Addison.
It didn’t. Recently, the New Hampshire Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by lawyers to reconsider his death sentence. Addison’s sentence stands.
In February 2026, opponents of the death penalty argued against multiple bills attempting to reinstate capital punishment. Their testimony before the New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee provided many reasons the state shouldn’t be in the business of killing. HCJPS voted unanimously against recommending the bills, and the House rejected them with no floor debate.
Because it’s a state act, all residents share responsibility for an execution. Most New Hampshire citizens don’t have the heart or stomach to go through what Tennesseans have, and most of us don’t want the premeditated killing of a fellow citizen on our consciences.