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Advocates warn raising assault penalties for first responders could harm people in crisis while sponsor calls for stronger protections
Summary
A bill to create stand‑alone offenses and enhanced penalties for assaulting first responders drew support from sponsors seeking deterrence and tracking, and opposition from NAMI New Hampshire and the Disability Rights Center, which warned the measure could criminalize people in mental‑health crisis and urged narrowing changes or a study.
The Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a bill, presented as the second part of a package separated from an earlier filing, that would create stand‑alone offenses and enhanced penalties for assaulting public-safety personnel.
The sponsor told the committee the bill would make it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly cause serious bodily injury to "public safety people," including police officers, paid and volunteer firefighters, and EMS personnel; knowingly causing bodily injury would be a class B misdemeanor. The sponsor said the separate statute aims to send a message that assaults on first responders are serious, to encourage consistent charging and to allow tracking of such offenses on criminal records.
"The…
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