 Gorton graduated from Boston University in 1982 and Harvard Law in 1985.While attending Boston University, he was involved in progressive student politics, serving as treasurer and later president of the College of Liberal Arts Forum, the elected student government representing 5,000 undergraduates.In law school and as a young lawyer, Gorton advocated for legal aid to the poor and joined the American Bar Association Death Penalty Project, challenging a death sentence in the Alabama State courts.