“It’s a hell of a thing killing a man. You take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have.” – Clint Eastwood as William Munny in the film “Unforgiven”

In the past couple of weeks, Alabama sadly made headlines due to a couple of incidents resulting in the loss of life.

The two incidents were not directly related, but they got me thinking about the bigger picture when it comes to death and justice.

The first incident took place in Birmingham’s Five Points South neighborhood, an area of the city known for restaurants, entertainment and nightlife and not for violent activity.

However, on September 21 four people – all under age 30 – were killed and more than a dozen others injured when multiple shooters opened fire on a crowd outside a Five Points club.

The second incident took place at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore on September 26 as Alan Eugene Miller, 59, became the second Alabama prisoner to be executed by the method of inhalation of nitrogen hypoxia gas. An AP report states Miller was convicted of murdering three men in Pelham in 1999.

Miller’s execution was the fourth carried out by the state in 2024, marking the most executions in a calendar year since six men were executed in 2011, according to records from the Alabama Corrections Department.

The death penalty has been used as punishment by governments across the world since government has existed, but what is its purpose? The answer is not the same for all people.

Some view the death penalty as a deterrent, a punishment so severe and frightening it would cause a person to refrain from intentionally taking the life of another human.

Statistically, this claim is difficult to support. According to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, Alabama is one of 21 states currently enforcing the death penalty. Most death penalty states are located in the Southeast and Midwest.

Not all states with the highest homicide rate – as determined by data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation – are also death penalty states, but over the past few decades a majority are. Since the 1990s, Alabama has landed at either fifth or sixth in most homicides per capita every decade.

One might argue the homicide rate could be even higher in these states if they did not enforce the death penalty, but this would not explain how states without a death penalty, on average, have lower homicide rates. It appears other factors are involved.

Another argument is it might be preferable to execute some prisoners convicted of the most heinous crimes instead of letting them languish in a prison cell for the remainder of their lives at taxpayer expense.

However, both conservative-leaning and liberal-leaning studies generally disagree with this view about cost.

A Cato Institute report points out the special costs connected to a death penalty trial, the number of extra court hearings afforded to a person on death row and the costs associated with carrying out the execution itself often combine to exceed the cost of maintaining a prisoner serving a life sentence.

Finally, we have to consider an element impossible to put into numbers, the value of retribution when a person is robbed of the most essential natural right – the right to live. What is owed to the person lost and to the loved ones left behind?

As someone blessed to have never lost a family member or close friend to an act of violence, it is difficult to place myself in the shoes of someone who has. I can only imagine the anguish this causes to be nearly unbearable.

On the other hand, I also cannot imagine the death of the perpetrator would bring me much, if any, satisfaction. Now there is another life ended prematurely and another family grieving after already processing grief from a family member committing a terrible act.

Even if forgiveness for the perpetrator seems impossible, maybe showing grace to the perpetrator’s family could be an idea worth entertaining.

Victims’ families who seek the death penalty spend decades waiting for the final payoff, and this seems like a heavy burden to bear for such a long time. Maybe the feeling of justice being served is worth the long wait, but it might also serve as a method to continue to pick at a deep emotional wound never allowing it to heal.

Anger, even understandable or righteous anger, tends to poison its container if held on to for too long. Both the Bible’s Old Testament and New Testament advise to leave vengeance up to God. It seems like good advice.