Last week, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed legislation into state law that will ban “gay/trans panic” as a legal defense in criminal cases. Both the Granite State’s House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the legislation earlier in the summer, sending it to the governor’s desk for approval.
The law means that defendants on trial in the Granite State may no longer excuse violent crimes on the basis of their victim’s sexual or gender orientation.
Reports MetroWeekly.com:
So-called “panic” defenses are a legal defense strategy, similar to provocation or diminished capacity, that may be employed by a defendant. Under the theory, the mere disclosure of a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity led a defendant to become so uncomfortable or to fear for their bodily safety that they were prompted to commit violence or murder that person — allowing the person to be acquitted of more serious charges or obtain more lenient sentences.
While its application is not uniform across the country, the “panic” defense has been used, historically, in many high-profile cases involving murders of LGBTQ people, including Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, Marco McMillan, Gwen Araujo, Angie Zapata, and Islan Nettles. Such defenses have been outlawed in 15 other states and the District of Columbia. Until Sununu signed the bill into law, New Hampshire was one of only four states in the Northeast that did not ban “panic” defenses at trial.
Read the complete MetroWeekly.com story here.
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