Tournament: Damus | Round: 1 | Opponent: Meadows SR | Judge: David Dosch
1AC
1AC - Standard
FW
Moral absolutism is useless, given that consequences morally and politically precede intentions.
Isaac Jeffrey Isaac. James H. Rudy professor of Political Science and director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and Public Life at Indiana University, Bloomington, “Ends, Means and politics,” Dissent, Spring 2002
Only states of affairs give teleological relevance to ethics
Ariansen 98 Per Ariansen (University of Oslo, Department of Philosophy). “Anthropocentrism with a human face.” Ecological Economics 24 (1998) 153–162 AJ
Rational thought by its nature is aimed toward finding solutions to problems posed by experience.
Frega 12Equal Accessibility to All: Habermas, Pragmatism, and the Place of Religious Beliefs in a Post-Secular Society. Roberto Frega. Constellations Volume 19, Number 2, 2012
Pragmatism requires consequentialism because public decisions are aimed at affecting the lives of citizens so decisions must have the intended consequence.
Frega 12Equal Accessibility to All: Habermas, Pragmatism, and the Place of Religious Beliefs in a Post-Secular Society Roberto Frega Constellations Volume 19, Number 2, 2012
PLAN
The United States Federal Government ought to limit qualified immunity as a defense for police officers being tried in excessive use of force cases.
Wright 15 – Sam Wright, writer for Above the Law and public interest lawyer who has spent his career exclusively in nonprofits and government: November 03 2015(“Want to Fight Police Misconduct? Reform Qualified Immunity” Available at http://abovethelaw.com/2015/11/want-to-fight-police-misconduct-reform-qualified-immunity/ Accessed on 11/05/16)IG
Human Rights Council
Police brutality is the largest cause of a decline in US cred on human rights – the UN Human Rights Council has smashed the US for it
Sheriff 15 - Natasja Sheriff, independent journalist and a visiting scholar at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute: May 11, 2015(“US cited for police violence, racism in scathing UN review on human rights” Al Jazeera Available at http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/11/us-faces-scathing-un-review-on-human-rights-record.html Accessed on 10/27/16)IG
The Council can effectively create change but US leadership is key
Lagon 5/17 – Mark P. Lagon, Centennial Fellow and Distinguished Senior Scholar in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University: May 17, 2016(“A GLASS HALF FULL: WHY THE U.S. NEEDS TO BE ON THE U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL” Freedom House Available at https://freedomhouse.org/article/glass-half-full-why-us-needs-be-un-human-rights-council Accessed on 11/01/16)IG
Rights violations Affect billions
CFR 13 - Council on Foreign Relations: June 19, 2013 (“The Global Human Rights Regime” From the multimedia Global Governance Monitor of the International Institutions and Global Governance program Available at http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/global-human-rights-regime/p27450#p1 Accessed on 10/27/16) IG
Qualified immunity leads to circumvention of rights and propagates police brutality – denying it as a defense solves
Johnson 15 – Tabitha Johnson, : 2015(“QUALIFIED IMMUNITY OR JUSTIFIED BRUTALITY?: AN EXAMINATION OF THE QUALIFIED IMMUNITY DOCTRINE IN PETERSON V. KOPP” Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice, Vol. 4:2 p.265-267 Accessed on 11/04/16)IG
Military Urbanism
Qualified immunity chills First Amendment rights- undermines citizen incentives to prosecute police
Derrick 13 (Geoffery J. Derrick, Fellow at the Center for Appellate Litigation, New York, NY. J.D., magna cum laude, 2012, Boston University School of Law; B.S., 2007, Northwestern University, September 9th, 2013, "Qualified Immunity and the First Amendment Right to Record Police", Public Interest Law Journal, http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=562116100073093031026089094078122005017000001037065088099113081029028007099103081023000001018010122038004024076106082017001012111020068012086006098115117013105068093000020125064078000072068110031073070025099116026115078125107117090117080075120067009andEXT=pdf)
Immunity protects police surveillance- erodes fundamental journalist rights
Marvel 11 (Bill Marvel, journalist at Dallas Morning News, 11-04-2011, "Bill Marvel: The illegal assault on photographers," http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2011/11/04/bill-marvel-the-illegal-assault-on-photographers)
A grey area for erosion of civil rights is created by qualified immunity – it uses unclear law to prevent rulings from ever taking place on those issues
Black 91 (H. Allen Black, Order of the Coif, teaching assistant and member of the William and Mary Law Review, March 1991, "Balance, Band-Aid, or Tourniquet: The Illusion OofQualified Immunity for Federal Officials", William and Mary Law Review, Volume 32 | Issue 3 Article 5, http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1937andcontext=wmlr)
The resulting surveillance of social movements has created a dangerous chilling effect---forcing unwarranted precaution and conservatism on the part of the activist---reducing the movement to a series of moral badges.
Starr et al. 08 - Amory Starr, Professor of Sociology at Chapman University, Luis A. Fernandez, NAU Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University, Randall Amster, Peach Studies and Social Thought at Prescott College, Lesley J. Wood, Department of Sociology at York University, Manuel J. Caro, Centro Norteamericano de Estudios Interculturales at C/ Harinas, July 10, 2008, “The Impacts of State Surveillance on Political Assembly and Association: A Socio-Legal Analysis”, Qual Sociol (2008) 31:251–270, AJX
The impact is endless warfare---the security state has resulted in a new politics of military urbanism that extends warfare into the battlespace, with no beginning or end, and where everyone is a target.
Graham 12, Professor of Cities and Society at Newcastle University, January 2012, “When Life Itself is War: On the Urbanization of Military and Security Doctrine,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 36.1, pgs. 136 - 155
