The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2018 felonies was withdrawn from consideration in March 2018.92 In February 2018, the Washington State Senate passed a bill to abolish the death penalty and forwarded it to the House of Representatives for examination.93 The bill aimed to reduce state expenses by replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole for aggravated first degree murder.94 However, it failed in the House of Representatives in March 2018. The New Hampshire Governor vetoed a bill on the penalty for capital murder, introduced in February 2018.95 Utah’s initiative to repeal the death penalty, introduced in February 2018, was also withdrawn from consideration.96 In March 2018, Alabama passed a bill allowing for the use of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method if lethal injection is unavailable or found to be unconstitutional (effective July 2018).97 In August 2017, California signed into law a bill that requires the permanent retention of court records in capital felony cases where the defendant was sentenced to death, including records of the cases of any co-defendants and any related cases, regardless of the disposition. The previously existing law specified the time period after which the documents could be destroyed.98 In California, the Supreme Court upheld an initiative to speed up death-penalty appeals and executions, although as a directive, not a mandatory rule.99 In Delaware, a bill revising the state’s death penalty statute was introduced in April 2017. The bill would reinstate capital punishment for murder or accomplice to murder with aggravating circumstances. The House of Representatives passed the bill in May 2017, and it has since been pending in the Judicial and Community Affairs Committee in the Senate.100 92  “SB1416: Death Penalty; Deleting provisions for the death penalty for capital felonies, etc.”, the Florida Senate, <https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/01416/?Tab=BillHistory>. 93  “Washington Senate passes bill to abolish death penalty”, the Seattle Times, 14 February 2018, <https://www. seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/washington-senate-passes-bill-to-abolish-death-penalty/>. 94  “SB6052: Reducing criminal justice expenses by eliminating the death penalty and instead requiring life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole as the sentence for aggravated first degree murder”,, Washington State Legislature, <http://apps2.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6052&Year=2017&BillNumber=6052&Year=2017>. 95  “Governor Chris Sununu Vetoes SB 593”, governhor.nh.gov, <https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-media/ press-2018/20180621-sb593.htm>. 96  “HB379: Death Penalty Amendments”, Utah State Legislature, <https://le.utah.gov/~2018/bills/static/ HB0379.html>. 97  Bill Status for SB272: Capital defendant, execution methods further provided for, use of by nitrogen hypozia if lethal injection is unavailable or on election of defendant”, the Alabama Legislature, <http://alisondb.legislature. state.al.us/Alison/SESSBillStatusResult.ASPX?BILL=SB272&WIN_TYPE=BillResult>. 98  “Assembly Bill № 1443, Chapter 172”, California Legislative Information, <https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1443>. 99  “California Supreme Court Upholds, But Limits, Initiative to Speed Up Death-Penalty Appeals”, Death Penalty Information Center, <https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/6852>. 100  House Bill 125: An act to amend Title 11 of the Delaware Code relating to the extreme crimes protection act”, Delaware General Assembly, <https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25590>. 22