NH · constitutions
N.H. Const. pt. I, art. 18
Penalties to be Proportioned to Offenses; True Design of Punishment
All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offense. No wise Legislature will affix the same punishment to the crimes of theft, forgery, and the like, which they do to those of murder and treason. Where the same undistinguishing severity is exerted against all offenses, the people are led to forget the real distinction in the crimes themselves, and to commit the most flagrant with as little compunction as they do the lightest offenses. For the same reason a multitude of sanguinary laws is both impolitic and unjust. The true design of all punishments being to reform, not to exterminate mankind.
History
June 2, 1784 Amended 1792 deleting "those of" after do in 3d sentence and changing "dye" to: offenses.
Provenance
- Source
- www.nh.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-29
- Edition
- 2026-09-29
- Content hash
4288f16cb2d6407a664b967ba0d84fd5c63186706f36544b31c5525b8a7a1302
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