A five-term Democratic legislator twice caught driving at or just over 100 mph on Interstate 93 claimed police were without authority to charge her because the Constitution states that lawmakers cannot be arrested driving to or from the Legislature.
Lawyers for Rep. Ellen Read, D-Newmarket, made the argument after a Rockingham County deputy sheriff said Read’s Toyota Yaris was going 107 mph in a 65 mph zone Dec. 2, 2024, in Windham.
At the time, Read told authorities she had come from the capital and was going to a place of employment in Woburn, Mass.
In a second stop on the morning of June 5, 2025, a different Rockingham County Sheriff’s deputy said Read was driving 92 mph in a 65 mph zone along I-93 southbound in Londonderry.
She was charged with negligent driving in the first case and speeding in the second incident. Law enforcement let her go in both matters without an arrest.
Her former lawyer, ex-Republican state Rep. Dan Hynes, had argued in the first case the evidence was illegally obtained as she was coming from the State House.
Read was fined $1,240 in the first case, with the threat of having her license suspended if there was another moving violation in the next two years.
A hearing is set for Aug. 12 to consider the deferred punishment in light of her second speeding ticket.
Last month, the state Supreme Court refused to hear Read’s appeal to one of the tickets.
Part Two, Article 21 of the Constitution adopted in 1784 states, “No member of the house of representatives, or senate shall be arrested, or held to bail, on mesne process, during his going to, returning from, or attendance upon, the court.”
The court is a reference to the New Hampshire General Court, the formal title for the Legislature.
Other attempts made without success
Read isn’t the first present or past legislator to unsuccessfully try to make this legal claim.
Law enforcement agencies and New Hampshire judges have in these matters ruled this constitutional privilege does not provide immunity from criminal arrests or traffic violations such as speeding.
Police generally argue that being pulled over and issued a ticket does not constitute an “arrest” in the constitutional sense, and legislators are subject to the same traffic laws as other citizens.
Constitutional scholars said New Hampshire and many states adopted this provision to keep political rivals from bringing civil lawsuits meant to prevent lawmakers from traveling to the State House and perhaps voting against their interests.
Read is one of three House members representing Newfields and Newmarket in a deep-blue House district; only one Republican signed up to run against them this fall.
Read’s office, though a spokeswoman, issued a statement alleging that the story first reported Monday by The Boston Globe only surfaced because of her campaign against what she has charged was a “corrupt domestic violence network” led by the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (NHCADSV).
According to her spokesperson, Gracie Gato, Read accepted the reduced charge to end the second speeding case and didn’t appeal to the Supreme Court on the matter of legislative privilege.
“The real thing to pay attention to here is the fact that right after Rep Read pushed for an investigation on a corrupt domestic violence network that doesn’t deliver adequate survivor services but continues to bill public funds for them ... a two-year-old closed case is surfacing now,” Read’s office said in the statement.
A sexual assault survivor, Read convinced the House to overwhelmingly pass her bill (HB 1633) to give victims more access to information about their cases.
AG strongly opposed Read’s bill
The state Senate killed the bill in April after Attorney General John Formella’s office and some anti-domestic violence advocates argued that it would jeopardize the successful prosecution of these crimes.
In an unusual move, House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, then banned Read from having any access to Representatives Hall except when she was attending legislative sessions.
Packard’s office said the punishment was because Read had been verbally abusive toward leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee that she charged had tanked her bill.
“I am watching yet another institution meant to help survivors fail them,” Read said in response to her rebuke. “No, I was not quiet about that failure. I said one word, everyone’s favorite cuss word, into the air by myself, directed at no one … I received the first access ban in recorded history in this body.”
Read authored a second bill (HB 1675) to create a commission to investigate the NHCASDV and, in the meantime, require it make public annual audits and remove their staff from serving on any state commissions.
The House effectively killed that bill by tabling it last spring.
Read’s office said the county sheriffs did not have a radar reading of how fast she was driving in her 2009 subcompact, which has 440,000 miles on it.
Read’s office maintained she had not gone faster than 85 in either instance and also pointed out the sheriffs did not have body cameras to back up their claims that she had been abusive to them.