An open letter to Sen. John Reagan and Reps. David Doherty, Dianne Schuett and Brian Seaworth: As I have been opposed to the death penalty since the 1960s, I appreciate the votes that some of you have made to end that penalty in New Hampshire. I hope that you will continue to vote to end the death penalty.
I know some people sincerely believe that the existence of the death penalty may help deter murders of policemen. It didn’t seem to slow down Michael Addison. I have not been able to find any studies that show that it works as a deterrent.
While some things can be debated, there is one thing that seems certain: We are human and can make mistakes. If New Hampshire continues with the death penalty on the books, based on the law of averages, at some point we will probably execute someone who turns out afterward to have been innocent.
If that happened, there would, hopefully, be great public revulsion, and the death penalty would be ended right away.
I don’t want to wait until New Hampshire has executed someone who was innocent. Let’s end the death penalty now.
ROBERT B. WILLIAMS Jr.
Chichester