Overview
- Representatives voted 179–159 on Jan. 7 to pass SB15, allowing lifetime hard labor for convictions of capital murder or aggravated felonious sexual assault of a child under 13.
- A hard-labor sentence requires at least nine of 12 jurors; if that threshold is not met, the penalty is life in prison without parole.
- The measure defines physically intensive work such as fieldwork, construction, road maintenance, waste management, and manufacturing, performed at least eight hours a day for five days a week at standard prison wages, subject only to medical exemptions.
- Supporters, including Rep. Terry Roy, argue the policy deters the worst crimes and delivers retributive justice, with operational details left to the corrections commissioner.
- Opponents including the ACLU of New Hampshire and Democratic lawmakers label the plan archaic and dangerous, warning of “labor camps,” constitutional and staffing risks, and likely litigation as Republicans also push death-penalty revival bills.