A bill has gained traction in New Hampshire that proposes punishments of hard labour, including manufacturing work, for serious crimes. The legislation is aimed at creating labour camps, which is a serious blow to human rights and has caused serious constitutional concerns to arise.
The proposal passed the state House of Representatives 179-159 and will head to the state Senate for approval. The bill could make ‘hard labour’ a sentencing option, including manufacturing or assembly work that requires ‘significant physical exertion’ as a means of ‘punitive retribution and societal deterrence,’ particularly in cases involving capital murder or serious sexual assaults on children.
To receive a sentence of life imprisonment at hard labour without parole requires an affirmative vote of at least nine of 12 jurors. A commissioner of corrections would be tasked with hard labour assignments, which require no less than eight hours of work per day, five days per week, the settings of which (in the prison setting or otherwise) have yet to be determined. Medical exemptions will be considered but could result in alternative punishments, including 23 hours of daily isolation. There is also the option to include rehabilitation, vocational training, and other programs. Compensation follows the prevailing prison wage rate, which ranges from $1 to $4 per day in the state of New Hampshire.
State Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, who voted in favor of the legislation, described the hard labour as “the same daily tasks that many people call careers,” while on the other side of the debate, State Rep. Linda Harriott-Gathright, who was opposed to the bill, said it “mandates labour camps for life and creates constitutional concerns.” The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire used the words “harsh, cruel, and archaic.”
