STOP THE EXECUTION OF MICHAEL ADDISON

Demand that New Hampshire commute Michael Addison's death sentence to life imprisonment!

To Governor Kelly Ayotte and the New Hampshire Supreme Court:

New Hampshire abolished the death penalty in 2019. Yet Michael Addison remains on death row, carrying a sentence that the state has since recognized as unlawful.

We are calling on Governor Kelly Ayotte, the New Hampshire Executive Council, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court to take every action within their respective authority to prevent Michael Addison's execution and ensure that his death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.

Justice cannot be measured by the state's willingness to take another life. The death penalty is an irreversible exercise of state power. It gives the government the authority to decide who lives and who dies. Our corrupt and racist system is not infallible, and in this specific instance, this irreversible punishment would not only be a demonstration of authoritarian rule ignoring the will of constituents, but would be unconstitutional.

We cannot allow New Hampshire to become the first state in the country to carry out an execution under a repealed death penalty law. New Hampshire has already taken an important step by abolishing capital punishment. That commitment should mean something for those who remain subject to death sentences imposed under the former law. Abolition is not be a symbolic declaration that leaves one person of color conveniently behind.

We therefore demand:

1. That Governor Kelly Ayotte and the Executive Council exercise their lawful clemency authority to commute Michael Addison's death sentence to life imprisonment.

2. That the New Hampshire Supreme Court consider and pursue every lawful judicial avenue available to prevent his execution and address the continued imposition of a death sentence abolished by the state.

3. That New Hampshire uphold the principles behind its abolition of capital punishment and reject the execution of Michael Addison.

The death penalty has no place in New Hampshire. Abolition must mean more than ending future death sentences. It must also mean confronting the sentences that remain, confronting our corrupt local government, and confronting the fact that Kelly Ayotte carried out the prosecution of Mr. Addison while serving as Attorney General.