The Honorable Judge Nathaniel Jones litigated the "Milliken v. Bradley I" case before the U.S. District Court and Supreme Court in 1971 and 1974. Nathaniel Jones was born May 12, 1926 in Youngstown, Ohio, and served as the general counsel for the NAACP from 1969-1979. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Nathaniel Jones to the U.S.…

This article discusses concerns about how Neil M. Gorsuch, a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, might influence decisions regarding cases involving the appropriate scope of services guaranteed by federal special-education law, government aid to religious institutions providing educational services, and how intellectual property law applies to sports…

Good research does not mean good policy, but policy or legal conclusions that rely on false assumptions are certain to be bad. When the rights of U.S. students of color are at stake, the Supreme Courts need the best research findings the country can offer. The U.S. Constitution contains sweeping and undefined terms. Reaching a conclusion about the…

This paper considers Judge Ted Noble's 1997 ruling of the Latimer case in terms of how it rhetorically constructs and privileges the normal, able-bodied status quo, while, at the same time, deconstructs and positions as inferior the "abnormal," dis-abled minority. In this case, Noble not only took the unprecedented step of granting…

Most professors have mixed feelings about participating on peer-review panels. It's an honor. It helps the discipline. It's a waste of time. It's biased. Michele Lamont wanted to know whether it works: specifically, whether, and how, professors identify excellence. So the multi-titled Harvard University scholar--professor of European studies,…

Interpretation analysis is a new and interesting event on the forensics horizon which appears to be attracting an ever larger number of supporters. This event, developed by Larry Lambert of Ball State University in 1989, requires a student to perform all three disciplines of forensic competition (interpretation, public speaking, and limited…

The lack of consistent theory in nonpolicy debate has contributed to difficulty for debaters and judges alike. The problem is especially apparent for second negative speakers in the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) format. The controversy over the direction and goals of CEDA style debate has led some members of the CEDA community to…

Analyzes the present nature of topicality argumentation. Argues for an alternative view of topicality as jurisdiction, balancing resolutional ground and focusing debaters' attention and arguments on central substantive policy issues implied by the resolution under consideration. Concludes with an application of the jurisdiction analogy to…

Columnist George Will and others have questioned the continuing need for a federal civil rights commission, because civil rights protections have been on the books since 1964. The chairman of the Commission, Gerald Reynolds, here responds that practitioners of critical legal theory, advocates of the Akaka-Secession bill, some proponents of…

Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, known for being a liberal First Amendment absolutist and a courageous defender of individual freedom, is considered one of the best justices ever to serve on the nation's high court. This essay examines the events surrounding Justice Black's controversial nomination to the Supreme Court, focusing on his…

The theoretical perspectives of intercollegiate debate are constantly shifting. This paper evaluates the mirror state counterplan--a strategy open to the negative team--both generally and in light of the criticisms leveled against it by Richard H. Dempsey and David J. Hartmann in their recently published article entitled "Mirror State…

To eliminate the rapid pace, heavy reliance on evidence cards, and professional jargon associated with the debate style of the National Debate Topic (NDT), the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) proposed the use of a value topic--instead of a policy topic--to restore balance among argument, analysis, and evidence in debate. Initial…

The term "turnaround" has taken a permanent place among the intercollegiate debate jargon. All too often, the first affirmative rebuttalists charge "turnaround" for every plan or response they do not know how to label properly. After so many "false alarms," judges are too weary or aggravated to notice the real thing,…

Noting that a series of mechanical rules created for pairing and placement of judges at the National Debate Tournament (NDT) may be useful in developing a computer program to pair tournaments, this paper focuses on the methods used to pair rounds at the NDT and also looks at some pairing options frequently employed by other debate tournaments. The…

When tournament judges view a particular speaking event they are inevitably going to have different perceptions of that event. For example, typical descriptions for after dinner speaking events deal with time limits, originality, wit and creativity, and tasteful humor. Definitions of these terms vary, but efforts have been made to establish some…