Lincoln-Douglas Topic for November & December

The National Forensic League recently released the November-December topic for Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Resolved: In a democratic society, felons ought to retain the right to vote.

“Nationally, an estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote because of laws that prohibit voting by people with felony convictions. This fundamental obstacle to participation in democratic life is exacerbated by racial disparities in the criminal justice system, resulting in an estimated 13% of Black men unable to vote.” This information comes from an organization called The Sentencing Project. The fundamental question of this debate is, "do felons give up all of their civil liberties when they have been convicted of a felony?"

This does not mean only those who are in jail for a felony. In many states, once a person has been convicted of a felony they lose their right to vote in that state as long as they reside in that state. Does a convicted felon lose a fundamental civil liberty even if he has served his debt to society.

This promises to be a "law and order" kind of justice debate. We will be debating this resolution at the Kelly High School Bustamante Classic on December 5th & 6th.