A dvocates for the abolition of the death penalty argue that it is costly and arbitrary. A quick review of some of the events of December illustrates what this means.

On Dec. 11 the Death Penalty Information Center issued its year-end report. The report concluded that public support for the death penalty is eroding in our country. Death sentences and executions are down.

At the United Nations, the General Assembly approved a resolution calling for a universal moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty in the world. That vote came at the end of a year which saw with the abolition of capital punishment in Uzbekistan, Burundi, Rwanda and Togo. Countries which have abolished the death penalty outnumber countries that have retained it by a margin of two to one.

On Dec. 13, a jury in Georgia sentenced Brian Nichols to life in prison without parole. Nichols had been found guilty of killing a judge, a court reporter, a police deputy and a U.S. Customs agent during his escape from a courthouse hearing on other charges.

Here at home, for the first time ever New Hampshire had two active death penalty cases. Multi-millionaire John Brooks was convicted of hiring a crew to murder Jack Reid, a man who Brooks believed stole a few items from him. A jury sentenced him to life in prison.

Michael Addison was convicted of shooting Michael Briggs, a police officer who was attempting to arrest him. On Dec. 18 he was sentenced to death. He is the first man to be sentenced to death in 50 years.

The final cost to the state for the prosecution of those two cases is not yet known, but by some estimates exceeds over $4 million to date.

Meanwhile, earlier this month the New Hampshire court system announced that jury trials would be suspended for one month because of budget deficits. According to an article in the New York Times, the clerks of court in New Hampshire's largest counties, Hillsborough and Rockingham, said that they were rescheduling 179 criminal and civil trials planned for February and March. The cost savings will be about $73,000.

Jan. 1 is International Death Penalty Abolition Day. I hope the citizens of New Hampshire will take time to reflect upon the events of this year. For many years the people of New Hampshire lived in denial about the death penalty. Sure, New Hampshire has the death penalty on the books, but would we ever really use it? Now we have, and it is incumbent upon us to take a renewed look at the death penalty. Does it accomplish its goals? Is it worth the price? Is it imposed fairly? Is it consistent with evolving standards of decency? Is it necessary when the state has a true life without parole alternative?

The state is going to kill one of its citizens in all of our names. Is that what we really want? The rest of the country and the world community are turning away from the death penalty. Does New Hampshire really want to go down that road now?

(Barbara Keshen is staff attorney for the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union in Concord.)