Governor Sununu signed HB 1645, comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation including expanding bail reform, requiring law enforcement to report misconduct by other officers, banning the use of chokeholds by officers, and establishing a fund to ensure all law enforcement undergo psychological screening.
3 years ago, the legislature passed extensive reforms to New Hampshire’s bail statute and the legislation signed into law stems from the hard work of a non-partisan commission and does not roll-back the important strides we have taken to ensure that a person’s financial position will never be the sole factor that detains them. Mass incarceration is both a symptom and a catalyst of widespread discrimination that continues to haunt our nation. In addition to expanding bail reform, this legislation will prohibit the transfer of prisoners in New Hampshire to for-profit facilities, preventing the private sector from benefiting off of incarceration levels that continue to rise in our state, quadrupling in number since the 1970’s.
We are in the midst of a nationwide awakening to the realities of racially motivated brutality and discrimination by officers of the law. This legislation bans the use of chokeholds during arrest, a violent practice that should never occur and has resulted in unnecessary and tragic loss of life in our nation. This legislation will require that law enforcement officers report situations of misconduct by other officers, no longer condoning complicit by-standing. This legislation also will make available funds to require that all law enforcement officers undergo psychological stability screening prior to serving their communities. These measures are important and long-overdue but by no means exhaustive and I look forward to continuing the conversation moving forward.