Latest news with #HouseChildrenandFamilyLawCommittee
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Key panel deadlocks over making exception to ban on child marriage
Feb. 18—A key House committee deadlocked over whether to recommend support or political death for carving out an exception to the ban on child marriage to allow a 17-year-old to wed when one of the partners is serving in the military. The House Children and Family Law Committee split 7-7 on separate motions to recommend passing or killing the narrow carve-out to the child marriage ban that went into effect Jan. 1. New Hampshire is now one of 11 states that doesn't allow without exception anyone under 18 to get married. State Rep. Charles McMahon, R-Windham, joined all the Democrats present on the committee against the bill that sparked passionate debate for and against the measure during a hearing last month. Chairman Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead, said the bill (HB 433) will go to the full House with "no recommendation," a stalemate common during the previous two years when the House was as closely divided by party as it has been in the past 150 years. In November, Republicans picked up 20 more seats in the House and Pearson's committee has nine Republicans and seven Democrats on it. Reps. Kim Rice, R-Hudson, and Amy Malone, D-Rochester, were absent for Tuesday's executive session vote on the bill. The bill would permit a 17-year-old to be married if one of the pair was in the military and if the minor gets consent from a parent or legal guardian. "I just feel this would create an opportunity for good solid families," said Rep. Debra DeSimone, R-Atkinson. Rep. Alicia Gregg, D-Nashua, said the Legislature came together in a bipartisan fashion last year to pass the ban so the state would "not be a beacon for this" (child marriage). Rep. Heather Raymond, D-Nashua, said now was not the time to reverse course. "The testimony we had from women who were married off at young ages to such specific painful experiences; I just can't possibly support this," Raymond said. Rep. Lori Korzen, R-Berlin, said society is hypocritical about sexual intercourse and the sanctity of a couple vowing to share a life together. "It's okay for a minor to have sex but we are not okay with letting them get married; to me that makes no sense," Korzen said. Rep. Cassandra Levesque, D-Barrington and now 25, said she's worked on the issue since she was 15 and helped lead the campaign that convinced lawmakers in Massachusetts to ban child marriages there in 2022. "We are sending young girls who are unprepared into a forced marriage," Levesque said. klandrigan@
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Legislation calls for system to restore competency to criminal offenders
Jan. 29—Leaders in the judicial branch and mental health community endorsed creating a system for restoring competency to criminal offenders who had been found incompetent to stand trial. House Children and Family Law Committee Chairman Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead, predicted if his legislation becomes law, it will lead to a much higher percentage of accused offenders who a judge concludes are competent. New Hampshire's current law merely states that one year after someone is judged to be incompetent, if the offender is not restored then the criminal charges against him or her are dropped. Last year, the national average was 81% of those once found incompetent were later restored. In 2019 — the most recent date for which date was available — only 44% had their competency restored in New Hampshire. "This gives closure to the alleged victims by having a court issue a decision one way or the other," Pearson told the House Judiciary Committee. "It also gives closure to the alleged perpetrator since some of those individuals will be found not guilty. Sometimes, the (criminal) sentence given out is less than the time that person is bouncing around in the mental health system." Bill would create two-year pilot program Pearson offered an amendment to his study bill (HB 480) that would create a two-year pilot program in the court system in Merrimack County or Strafford County. The state would hire a forensic liaison who would be in charge of ensuring that the accused offender attends meetings and hearings in his or her case. The same individual would also report to the state on the status of the cases. The program would operate not out of the court system but within the state Department of Health and Human Services. "We don't want this to be seen as a criminal matter; we want it to be considered a behavioral health issue," Pearson said. Holly Stevens, policy director with the National Alliance of Mental Illness of New Hampshire, said many of the offenders can be restored to competency with treatment. "Many individuals who raise competency have psychotic conditions and once they get medication they are restored," Stevens said. Erin Creegan, general counsel for the judicial branch, said for many years this has been an "intractable issue." Rep. Robert Lynn, R-Windham, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, credited Pearson with bringing all stakeholders to the table to come up with this compromise language. klandrigan@
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Panel considers exception to new ban on child marriage
Jan. 28—A former military bride from San Diego came to Concord Tuesday to urge the New Hampshire Legislature to reject a proposal to allow 17-year-olds to marry if one member of the couple is active-duty military. The bill (HB 433) would create an exception to the state's newly enacted ban on marriage under the age of 18. Former Army Spc. Brittany Wright told lawmakers she suffered years of abuse after her parents forced her to become a teen bride. "Child marriage gave my abuser, an adult man who, at the time was in the military, the power to groom, arrest and rape me when I was 14 years old," Wright told the House Children and Family Law Committee Tuesday. "I escaped at 18 and the divorce left me homeless with no one to turn to for help, except the greatest military force this world has ever known." Joining the Army, Wright said, she earned her GED and served in the military police corps for seven years. But Rep. Harry Bean, R-Gilford, a former Army reservist, said he got married at 16, and by 18, he and wife, Phyllis, already had two children. "Marriage under the age of 18 works if the two people are committed and the parents know their children," said Bean, 70, the grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of six who has been married nearly 54 years. Rep. Margaret Drye, R-Plainfield, said what influenced her sponsorship of HB 433 was having two sons deployed to Iraq with the Marines. All branches of the service recruit at age 17 and many recruits at that age have been through basic training. "I have never heard a 17-year-old soldier be called a 'child' soldier," Drye said. Under her bill, the 17-year-old not in the military would need written consent from a parent or guardian to get married. Rep. Katy Peternel, R-Wolfeboro, said the armed forces are finding it difficult to meet their recruiting targets in recent years. "This is very beneficial for our military," Peternel said. The ban on under-18 marriage just took effect on Jan. 1. Rep. Cassandra Levesque, D-Barrington, worked for nearly five years on the legislation that made New Hampshire one of only 11 states that outlaw marriage without exception for anyone under 18. Levesque sat on the committee that heard the bill Tuesday. "Do you think we should give (the ban) some time to take effect?" Levesque asked Drye, the sponsor of HB 433. Emma Sevigny, behavioral health policy coordinator with New Futures, a health advocacy group, also opposed the exception, pointing to studies that conclude child marriage was more likely to lead to domestic abuse and mental health challenges. 'Inherently dangerous' "Child marriage is inherently dangerous," Sevigny said. "This legislation would roll back the progress that we have made." House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Chairman Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, said it made sense to him as someone who reported for basic training at 17 in 1986. "To be clear, I don't think getting married at 17 is a great idea. If we could I'd outlaw it until you turn 35," Roy quipped. The exception could be helpful for a soldier who learns upon entering the military that his 17-year-old girlfriend is pregnant. Marriage would grant her and the unborn child critical medical and prenatal care, Roy said. "Don't see this as chipping away at your work; this is a very fine exception," Roy told Levesque. klandrigan@
