A Constitution Day Look at the Death Penalty

Sadly, the timing could not have been better. Just as the entire country was having its nose rubbed into the horrific details of the notorious 2007 home invasion in Connecticut, the University got to explore issues surrounding the death penalty up-close and personal. Every national news outlet was talking about the case: a Cheshire woman and her two daughters were robbed, sexually assaulted and then murdered, their home burned to the ground. The husband and father, badly beaten, was able to escape from the basement and is now the galvanizing force behind a push to enforce the use of capital punishment in Connecticut and elsewhere. Each year, the University observes Constitution Day, the federally mandated celebration of the crafting of the United States Constitution, with a special program dedicated to the law. The September 17^th forum is organized annually by Dr. Gary L. Rose, professor and chair of the Department of Government and Politics. The long-scheduled conference on “Debating the Death Penalty,” featuring the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Connecticut, Atty. Sandy Staub, came just as the conversation was reaching fever pitch. It is a defining element of university life that issues of such substance and consequence can be debated and explored, even when there is no certain outcome, by the very people who will decide these matters in the future. Thanks, Dr. Rose, for another great teachable moment.