Should the United States abolish mandatory minimum sentencing.
Yes
- The Failed Politics of Sentence Reforme: Seriously Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy By Eric E. Sterling, J.D.
- Mandatory Minimums and Sentencing Reform By CPJF
- Mandatory Minimum Penalties For Drug Offenses in the Federal System From the USSC
- Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Reform Saves States Money and Reduces Crime Rates
No
- Former Prosecutor On Why He Supports Mandatory Minimums from NPR
- Memorandum For All Federal Prosecutors From: The Attorney General
Should police be required to wear body cams? If so, to what extent?
Pro
- Body-Worn Cameras: What the Evidence Tells Us
- Three ways police can use body cameras to build community trust
- Mandatory body cameras for police
Con
- Body Cameras And Privacy — Where Do You Draw The Line?
- Study Finds Negative Effects of Police-Worn Body Cameras
- Body Cameras May Not Be the Easy Answer Everyone Was Looking For
Should incarcerated people have the right to vote? Should ex-felons have the right to vote?
Yes
- Voting Behind Bars: An Argument for Voting by Prisoners
- Felon Disenfranchisement Is Anti-Democratic
- Why Shouldn’t Prisoners Be Voters?
- Bernie Sanders Is Right: We Should Let the Boston Marathon Bomber Vote
No
- There Are Good Reasons for Felons to Lose the Right to Vote
- No, Prisoners Should Not Be Voting From Their Cells
- Prisoners don’t care about their right to vote from The Telegram
Should for Profit Prisons be legal?
Yes
- Counterpoint: Private Prisons Can Play a Vital Role in Criminal Justice Reforms
- The benefits of private prisons
- Public-Private Partnerships for Corrections in California: Bridging the Gap between Crisis and Reform By Leonard C. Gilroy, Adam B. Summers, Anthony Randazzo and Harris Kenny
No
- Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: U.S. Growth in Private Prisons
- The Problem with Private Prisons
- This Is the Real Reason Private Prisons Should Be Outlawed
Should the United States defund its police.
Yes
- Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer
- 6 reasons why it’s time to defund the police
- Opinion: Defund police and refund the community
No
Should the United States government make quarantine mandatory?
Pro
Con
Could COVID-19 help level economic inequalities in the US or will it only further exacerbate them?
Level
- Interview with a historian on how major crises have re-shaped society in the past
- Opinion piece from Al-Jazeera on leveraging this crisis to tackle income inequality
- Using COVID-19 as a trigger event to spark a social movement
- Coronavirus is not just a tragedy, it’s an opportunity to build a better world.
Exacerbate
- Sheryl Sandberg on how coronavirus is deepening inequalities and the responsibilities of the rich
- Op-ed from The Atlantic on how the virus will impact the poor
- Op-ed on how school closures could deepen inequality for a generation
- How coronavirus is intensifying inequality in Detroit
- Coronavirus putting service workers at risk
Other
Should your city implement a plastic bag ban?
Pro
Con
- Bag the Ban tip: also look at the sources cited at the bottom of the article
- Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage?
Tip: research what’s happening in your area. Is a plastic bag ban in place or currently being considered? Who supports and opposes it? What is their reasoning?
Are carbon taxes effective at reducing pollution?
Yes
- Yes, but regulation is needed as well
- A carbon tax can lower emissions, but it needs to be very high
- A conservative case for a carbon tax
- Columbia University Research Series on the impact of carbon taxes
No
- More Good Arguments Against a Carbon Tax
- The Case Against a Carbon Tax
- The burden of a carbon tax will likely fall on the poor
Both
Does the US need a green new deal?
Yes
- The case against incremental climate policy
- The Economic Argument Behind the Green New Deal
- A Centuries Old Idea Could Revolutionize Climate Policy
No
- Democrats need an Ambitious Climate Plan. The Green New Deal Isn’t It.
- 5 Practical Problems for the Green New Deal
- Op-ed: Con: Green New Deal will be All Pain and No Gain
Both
- A video explaining what’s in the Green New Deal
- Op-ed with political arguments surrounding the GND
- Strengths and Weaknesses of the Green New Deal
Should the United States allow immigrants that came to the United States illegally become citizens?
Pro ConShould the United States impose stronger gun control laws? If so what extent?
Pro
- Gun Violence Statistics
- America’s Gun Statistics Compared to Other Nations
- Statistics
- Article On Gun Control
Con
- District of Columbia v. Heller
- Op-ed FromJenny A. Durkan is U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington
- Majority of Gun Violence is through Illegal Weapons
Both Sides
Are background checks the most effective way to stop gun violence?
Yes
Background Checks Really Do Cut Gun Deaths
Background checks work if implemented correctly
No
Opinion: Background Checks are Not the Answer to Gun Violence
Both sides
Compilation of research on the effectiveness of background checks
Should presidential electors have to vote in accordance with their pledge?
Pro
- Argument From Equal Citizen
- Similar to the first source
- Complaint Against the 2nd Amendment
- Petitioner’s Brief Of Argument
Con
Other
Should the voting age in the U.S. be lowered to 16 years old?
Pro
4 Reasons for Lowering the U.S. Voting Age to 16
Top Ten Reasons to Lower the Voting Age
Young People Have a Stake in Our Future. Let Them Vote.
Con
No, We Shouldn’t Lower The Voting Age To 16
Should We Lower the Voting Age?
Both Sides
Should the Voting Age be Lowered to 16?
16-Year-Olds Want a Vote. Fifty Years Ago, So Did 18-Year-Olds.
Should the electoral college be eliminated?
Yes
- Why every defense of the electoral college is wrong
- Opinion: This biggest argument in defense of the electoral college is based on a myth
- 4 Defenses of the Electoral College and why they’re wrong
No
Both Sides
Write an op-ed either supporting or disagreeing with the Equality Act.
Pro
- Article
- HRC responded to high levels of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people — as reported by the FBI
- Multiple Senators and Representative on the Equality Act
- HCR on the Equality Act
Con
Is the death penalty a cruel and unusual punishment?
Yes
No
Both Sides
Should abortion be legal in the United States?
Yes
- Abortion Access
- The Pro-Choice Movement Has Won the Culture War
- Abortion Is Morally Good
- Arguing Abortion
No
- Science Is Giving the Pro-Life Movement a Boost
- Arguments Against Abortion
- Four Pro-life Philosophers Make the Case Against Abortion
Both Sides
Should the United States government make vaccinations mandatory?
Pro
- The Case for Mandatory Vaccination
- 10 Reasons to Get Vaccinated
- Vaccines & Immunizations
- Why We Need to Make It Harder For Parents to Refuse Vaccines
Cons
- ‘They’re Chipping Away.’ Inside the Grassroots Effort to Fight Mandatory Vaccines
- There’s a Big Problem With Making Vaccines Mandatory, And It’s Worth Paying Attention
Both Sides
Should the U.S. government keep the penny in circulation?
Pro
- Don’t You Dare Eliminate The Penny
- In Defense of the Penny
- The Penny May be Worthless, But Let’s Keep It Anyway
Con
Both Sides
Should the U.S. government lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 years-old?
Pro
- Return the Drinking Age to 18, and Enforce It
- Lower Drinking Age Could Mean Safer Consumption
- Does Setting the Legal Drinking Age at 21 Fuel a Binge Drinking Culture Among American Teens?
Con
- Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?
- A Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) of 21 Saves Lives and Protects Health
- Lowering the Drinking Age Has Serious Consequences
- Legal Drinking Age Of 21 Saves Lives, Even Though It’s Flouted
Both
Should the U.S. government legalize marijuana?
Pro
- Marijuana Legalization and Regulation
- This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere
- The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Weed
Con
- More Reasons States Should Not Legalize Marijuana
- Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana
- Legalized Pot Isn’t Going to Save Us
- A Troubling New Study Shows That Legalizing Marijuana is Linked With an Increase in Problematic Pot Use Among Teens
Both
Should the United States monitor its citizens’ digitally to increase security? If so to what extent?
Pro
Con