This bill wouldn’t change any existing laws but would groups them together in new section of the criminal statutes.
According to backers like, Earl Sweeney, the state’s Assistant Safety Commissioner, such a re-codification could save lives.
“This is very important bill. The majority of murders that occur in the state every year are the result of a domestic violence situation, many times something that’s been festering for many many years.”
NH is one of just 15 states without that doesn’t consider domestic violence a specific crime.
Law enforcement and anti-domestic violence advocates say grouping the relevant offenses together will raise awareness for victims and make it harder for repeat perpetrators to go unrecognized.
Becky Ranes, the mother of Joshua Savyon, a 9-year old boy killed in August by his father during a court ordered supervised visit, testified at the hearing. She asked lawmakers to call the bill Joshua’s Law in her son’s honor.
