Tournament: NLR HS | Round: 3 | Opponent: Greenwood | Judge: BHS- Speer

I stand in firm negation of the resolution

Resolved: The United States ought to limit qualified immunity for police officers

Definitions

Ought is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as a moral obligation

Qualified Immunity, according to Cornell University of Law is a system that

"Qualified immunity balances two important interests—the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably." Pearson v. Callahan (07-751). Specifically, it protects government officials from lawsuits alleging that they violated plaintiffs' rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a "clearly established" statutory or constitutional right. When determining whether or not a right was "clearly established," courts consider whether a hypothetical reasonable official would have known that the defendant's conduct violated the plaintiff's rights. Courts conducting this analysis apply the law that was in force at the time of the alleged violation, not the law in effect when the court considers the case.       

Framework

The highest value in todays debate is the value of equality which is the quality of treating individuals equal no matter their race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background, etc.  Equality is the best way to judge the round because

The standard is individual action. Only individuals can achieve justice for themselves.

Contention One: Civilian Oversight

1. Only EXTERNAL, CIVILIAN oversight can alter police behavior- the aff's internal legal reform drives police misconduct underground- it's a trap

Akbar, 15 – Assistant Professor of Law at Michael E. Moritz College of Law, the Ohio State University (Amna, "National Security's Broken ~", UCLA Law Review, Vol. 62, pg. 834, May 2015, Lexis)
This Article has attempted to identify the problems with community engagement and counterradicalization in the
AND
must come from outside, from the communities themselves organizing for change. n325

2. The board doesn't have to work- it creates a deterrent effect

Seybold, 15 – JD Candidate (Steven D, "Somebody's Watching Me: Civilian Oversight of Data-Collection Technologies," March 2015, Texas Law Review, Vol. 93, pg. 1029)
3. Individual Deterrence and Systemic Correction. - Finally, civilian oversight has some
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entire police departments rather than only correcting the actions of a singular officer.

3. Civilian review is mutually exclusive and more efficient than court action

Weinbeck, 11 – JD Candidate William Mitchell College of Law (Michael P, "Watching the Watchmen: Lessons for Federal Law Enforcement from America's Cities," William Mitchell Law Review, Vol. 36, pg. 1306)
A police department's internal affairs unit, operating on its own, lacks the credibility
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costing the city nothing more than the administrative costs of the investigation. n61