CU hosts death penalty lecture
Howard Morton has endured a tragedy no parent should experience.
In 1975, Morton’s 18-year-old son, Guy, was murdered. The killer has yet to be brought to justice. This drives Morton to lend his resources and determination into his son’s case as well as others; Morton is one of the founders of “Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons, Inc.,” an organization devoted to solving cold cases of murders and missing persons.
But if his son’s murderer is apprehended, Morton’s pain will not extend to the death penalty.
“I’m willing to trade vengeance for justice,” Morton said. “I want him brought to justice . but I don’t believe in murder.”
Pat Forman, clinical professor at CU’s School of Law, hosted a forum concerning the death penalty Oct. 25, held in Duane Physics building. The panel featured Morton, as well as two other guest speakers taking opposing sides on the issue of capital punishment.
Doug Wilson, a state public defender and part of the panel, agreed with Morton.
“The Death Penalty is nothing more than state-sanctioned murder, and I’ll tell anyone, any prosecutor in a courtroom, any jury or judge, that that’s what they’re doing,” Wilson said.
Wilson also said he believes issuing the death penalty is a choice based on the preferences of elected officials.
“There are seven death penalty cases pending in Colorado, and six of those are in the same county – that means some DA likes seeking the death penalty,” Wilson said.
According to statistics provided by Wilson, the United States executed 53 people last year, becoming the sixth highest in the world in executions, behind China, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Sudan.
Among those in the audience was Joshua Norris, 26, father of Chandler Graffner, a 7-year-old boy found dead in a closet last May due to starvation. Graffner’s foster parents are now being charged with murder and Norris wants nothing less than the death penalty.
“If I could, I would do it myself,” Graffner said. “Anything less than death would be unfair. I wish it were as inhumane as my son’s death.”
Robert S. Grant, also a part of the panel, was once the district attorney for Adams County, before becoming the elected attorney for the Colorado District Attorney Council. He is now retired, and working as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado at Denver.
In the panel, Grant argued that the death sentence is the ultimate punishment for those who commit horrid crimes because the death penalty brings closure to families, justice to those who demand it and a sense of deterrence to future criminals.
“It’s not about who puts someone on death row. It was the law. Was I an acting part of the law? Yes. Was the judge? Yes. The jury? Absolutely. But it is the law that puts a guilty man to death,” Grant said.
Morton argued that the morality of the death sentence is disturbing.
“That kind of system, that mentality, is driven by a fierce grief, a gung-ho kind of cowboy mentality,” Morton said. “I understand that. I have empathy, but I can’t condone it.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Ben Prince at benjamin.prince@thecampuspress.com.
