The New Hampshire Senate approved House Bill 1422 Thursday, sending the legislation to Gov. Kelly Ayotte for final approval. The bill, sponsored by Pelham Republican Rep. Tom Mannion with bipartisan support, would eliminate New Hampshire’s three-year deadline for convicted inmates to request another trial if there is new evidence of their innocence.

The New England Innocence Project and other innocence advocacy groups say the bill would allow the wrongfully convicted to prove their innocence. There have been 3,808 exonerations across the United States since 1989 as of Thursday, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, yet only three of those have taken place in New Hampshire. The advocacy groups argue that isn’t because people aren’t wrongfully convicted in the Granite State, but because the state’s legal framework for proving innocence post-conviction is too onerous.

Originally published on newhampshirebulletin.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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