Peterson Among Lawmakers Seeking Impeachment of 189 State Reps

Merrimack Rep. Lenette Peterson is one of three legislators sponsoring an emergency petition for redress, which seeks the immediate removal of 189 members of the House of Representatives.

According to the petition, which William Tucker posted a copy of on Miscellany Blue website, Peterson, Rep. Al Baldasarro, R-Londonderry and Rep. John Hikel, R-Goffstown, seek to remove all of the legislators who voted in favor of repealing HB 135 , the "Stand Your Ground" law, on March 27. The law was enacted during the 2012 legislative session.

The bill garnered two hours of discussion before it passed the House by just five votes. It awaits a vote of the Senate, but critics say it will absolutely be a campaign issue in 2014.

The petition for redress, filed on Tuesday, April 9, claims the 189 members of the House who voted in favor of repeal have breached the oath of office they took, as well as a laundry list of rights including the right to bear arms, the right to happiness and the right to "protect the People of New Hampshire according to my conscience wherever I may be," among others.

Additionally, Peterson, Baldassaro and Hikel claim in their petition that these legislators have breached the public's trust, in what they say is a violation the rights set forth by the U.S. Constitution and New Hampshire Bill of Rights.

Peterson said she was approached on Tuesday, as she was walking through the hall outside her committee room in Concord, and asked to consider signing the petition. It wasn't a Merrimack constituent who approached her, but the residents behind the petition are citizens of New Hampshire who believe their rights are being impinged on.

“My reason for signing this is they have no right taking away Constitutional rights,” Peterson said Friday afternoon. “They are not above the constitution.”

Further than that, Peterson said the reps who voted in favor of the repeal of HB 135 are also violating “God-given” rights for someone to protect their loved ones should they need to.

“Your second-amendment rights are God-given rights, the Constitution just puts it in writing,” Peterson said.

The petition as it is written seeks:

• The immediate removal from office of these 189 disqualified members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
• The immediate nullification of any of the votes these 189 members have cast during their current term in office.
• The scheduling of a special election as soon as possible to replace these 189 members with people qualified to be those seats.

“I wanted to go on record and say 'this is my right you are trying to take away,'” Peterson said. “Do I think all 189 of them are going to be impeached? No, probably not.”

Peterson said last session, under the Republican majority there was a redress committee that received complaints for advisement. Under the current, Democratic leadership, that committee was removed Peterson said. So she wasn't sure where this would go next, other than being read on the House floor and filed away.

But that's not stopping a group of Republicans from seeking further support for the petition this weekend.

Jack Kimball, of the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC and a former Republican State Committee chairman, is hosting an Honor Your Oath rally this weekend in Concord and will seek further signatures for the petition at the rally. The rally, which you can read more about on Portsmouth Patch, is from 1-3 p.m. in front of the Statehouse on Saturday, April 13.

Further, Kimball and Hikel each filed criminal complaints on Friday in the Strafford County and Hillsborough County Sheriffs offices against House Majority Leader Stephen Shurtleff, D-Penacook, and the 189 members of the House.

Peterson admitted the actions being requested by the petition makes “a bold statement,” but said it should be bold when so many people “did not hold up their end of the oath they took.”

“Unfortunately the oath of office doesn't mean much anymore,” Peterson look at what the president's doing. he has shattered the Constitution.”