Death row inmate's spiritual advisor holds discussion on death penalty in JRL Hall

A spiritual advisor for an Alabama man on death row visited John Robert Lewis Hall for a discussion regarding the death penalty on Monday. 

Reverend Jeff Hood, the speaker at the discussion, came to Alabama from Arkansas to act as the spiritual advisor for Anthony Boyd, a man who received a death sentence for being an accomplice in the 1993 murder of Gregory Huguley. Boyd was executed by nitrogen gas on the evening of Oct. 23.

Contributed photo

Rev. Jeff Hood stands for his discussion

Hood’s goal is to educate people on the intricacies of the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, and use the teachings of the Bible to sway people from being so supportive of it. 

“I think the big thing for me is that I wanted the students to be able to understand just how complicated this issue is,” Hood said. “A lot of people, they say they’re for the death penalty, but then the question becomes who is going to carry it out.  

“Of course there are people who deserve the death penalty. The bigger question is who is righteous enough to be the one to kill them?” 

Hood referenced John 8:7 in the Bible, in which Jesus says only sinless men should be the one to throw the stones. Hood then said he doesn’t know of anyone living who is sinless and questioned who then should be the one to carry out a death sentence. 

He also explained the details of nitrogen gas execution for any of the students in attendance who weren’t aware of how they work. 

“I think that the students were really surprised at the sort of graphic nature of it, basically this idea that we're suffocating someone to death,” Hood said. “It was very clear that a lot of the students didn't know anything about the death penalty, and yet were very much for the death penalty.” 

The goal of this discussion was not to shame the students for not understanding capital punishment or convince them to be against it, but instead to help them gain a better understanding of what happens and how it works so they could then make a judgement on what they believe. 

“I don't want to pick on any of the students that I spoke to or say that anyone is not smart, but it is to say that there are a lot of students and a lot of people in general that are just not very informed, and when you're passionate about something that you're not informed about, you're passionate about your own ignorance,” Hood said. 

For the Alabama organization that worked with Hood to set this discussion up – Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (PHADP) – events like these are integral to their mission of shedding light on what they believe to be an aspect of the justice system that does not get enough consideration. 

“These conversations are important because often times capital punishment is an aspect of the criminal justice system that is taken for granted, even though every year we see innocent people executed for crimes where they were convicted with inconsistencies in evidence and court conduct,” said PHADP Special Events Coordinator Dawson Hicks. “The way we tackle criminal justice in America often times leaves behind a trail of lives ruined or ended for a punishment that statistically does not reduce crime or deter it.  

“We hope every participant walks away with a new understanding of not only capital punishment but also rehabilitation in the prison system.” 

The discussion was originally set to happen in JRL room 237 but had to be moved to a larger room to fit the larger-than-expected crowd.