Basic Downloads

Are you new to speech and debate? The following downloads are for you. They contain introductions to various events that the Monument Membership explores. These downloads are updated every summer to prepare for the new year of competition.

Your Basic Downloads Source Material for Season 22:

File Name	S22-Policy-NCFCA-12-NEG-Mandatory-Minimums.docx
File Size	60.72 KB
Date added	September 27, 2021
Category	Policy (NCFCA)
Author	Jonathan T. Helton

Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its policies regarding convicted prisoners under federal jurisdiction

The AFF case abolishes mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. These laws apply to individuals who have violated a federal drug law. AFF argues that these mandatory minimums create racial disparities and overcrowd the U.S. prison system. Your response will be that biased judges are the real drivers behind racial disparities and that repealing mandatory minimums will enable them and worsen the situation. Further, there are already exceptions to mandatory minimums and close to 50% of individuals who could serve a mandatory minimum number of years don’t.

You need to understand the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Booker v. United States (henceforth known as “Booker”). Congress enacted sentencing “guidelines” decades ago and then made them mandatory in 2003. These are not the same as “mandatory minimums” but they have a similar effect. The guidelines took away much of the discretion of judges and gave them a narrow window of penalties they could impose for federal crimes (including those with no mandatory minimum). Federal judges started following the guidelines (even before they were mandatory). They were designed to reduce disparity (different people getting unjustly different sentences for the same crime) and ensure solid “tough on crime” law enforcement (to prevent judges from being too lenient on bad criminals). In the 2005 Booker decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress couldn’t make the guidelines mandatory. The evidence in this brief claims that this experiment with mandatory versus advisory standards is a good model for the difference between mandatory minimums (status quo) and what would happen without them (AFF Plan). The mandatory standards before Booker were reducing racial disparities by their uniformity, because it reduced the discretion and opportunity for bias among judges issuing sentences. Once Booker relaxed the standards, NEG evidence shows more and more racial disparity in sentencing. This proves that when you give judges more discretion, racial bias increases, and that’s what will happen when mandatory minimums are repealed.

Download Your Preseason Documents, too:

You may still access Season 21 downloads here.

All Season 22 Basic Downloads will be updated by August 31, 2021. They will remain available through Season 22.

Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate

All Members have access to the digital copy of Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate by Chris Jeub. Download it below or order a hard copy.

Season 22 Release Schedule

Monument releases content all year long, from one national tournament to another, in what we call "seasons." We are entering Season 22 (2021-2022). For a list of all Member downloads for Season 21, click here. The following is the general release schedule for Season 22:

End of Season 21 - Officially archived on June 28, 2021. The new Season 22 releases begin July 5, 2021.
July-August - The first Monument Monday releases July 5, 2021. Basic informational material will continue through the summer (e.g. summaries, resolutional articles, etc.).
August 30, 2021 - End of the Pre-season, beginning of the official year of Monument Speech and Debate.
~~Christmas~~ Thanksgiving 2021 (we finished early!) - All foundational downloads are complete! Summaries of all releases are now available.
Through March 2022 - BONUS material released to members on a more as-needed basis using our Coaching Request Form.
April-June, 2022 - Qualifier and Nationals Preparation work is arranged...and Monument Members will be prepared to win!

Season 22 Debate Resolutions

Resolutions for Season 22 are posted here as they are announced by various speech and debate leagues.

Policy (all season):
- NCFCA: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its policies regarding convicted prisoners under federal jurisdiction."
- NSDA: "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its protection of water resources in the United States."
- NSDA Vote for Season 23 (Due December 15, 2021):
  - OPTION 1 – GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its support of multilateral greenhouse gas emission reduction regimes.
  - OPTION 2 – GLOBAL GEO-POLITICAL CRISIS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.
- Stoa: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reform the use of Artificial Intelligence technology."
Lincoln-Douglas:
- NCFCA (all season): "Resolved: In the context of innovation, the proactionary principle ought to be valued above the precautionary principle."
- NSDA releases six resolutions through the year:
  - Sept/Oct Novice: "Resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified."
  - Sept/Oct Varsity: "Resolved: The member nations of the World Trade Organization ought to reduce intellectual property protections for medicines."
  - Nov/Dec: "Resolved: A just government ought to recognize an unconditional right of workers to strike."
  - Jan/Feb: "Resolved: The appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust."
  - Next release is due February 1, 2022.
- Stoa (all season): "Resolved: In the field of biomedical engineering, restraint ought to be prioritized over scientific advancement."
Other Formats:
- Big Questions Debate (all season): "Resolved: On balance, societies benefit from religious belief and practice."
- Public Forum for Sept/Oct: "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization should substantially increase its defense commitments to the Baltic states."
- Public Forum for Nov/Dec: "Resolved: Increased United States federal regulation of cryptocurrency transactions and/or assets will produce more benefits than harms."
- Public Forum for January: "Resolved: The United States federal government should legalize all illicit drugs."
- Public Forum's next release is due January 1, 2022.

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