The benefits of domestic surveillance by the NSA do not outweigh the harms.
CON
Resolution---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resolved: The benefits of domestic surveillance by the NSA outweigh the harms.
Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As former Supreme Court Justice William Douglas once wrote, “The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.” With that in mind, my partner and I negate the resolution.
Framework--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to clarify the resolution, we offer the following observation:
Privacy is a basic right of all Americans, and is fundamental to accessing other rights.
1. As former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis explained:
a. The makers of our Constitution understood the right to be left alone to be the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. This is a recognition of the significance of man's spiritual nature, his feelings, and his intellect.
2. Moreover, privacy is fundamental to accessing other rights, as former Rutgers University President and NYU law professor Edward Bloustein argued in the NYU Law Review:
a. Privacy defines man's essence as a unique and self-determining being. It is because our tradition posits such dignity and independence of will in the individual that the law secures to a man the right to determine "to what extent his thoughts, sentiments, and emotions shall be communicated to others." To refuse a man that right to privacy would leave him less of a man and less of a master over his own destiny.
Invasion of privacy is best understood, in sum, as an affront to human dignity.
Contentions-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contention 1: NSA surveillance programs lack accountability and transparency, undermining
Resolution---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resolved: The benefits of domestic surveillance by the NSA outweigh the harms.
Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As former Supreme Court Justice William Douglas once wrote, “The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.” With that in mind, my partner and I negate the resolution.
Framework--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to clarify the resolution, we offer the following observation:
Privacy is a basic right of all Americans, and is fundamental to accessing other rights.
1. As former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis explained:
a. The makers of our Constitution understood the right to be left alone to be the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. This is a recognition of the significance of man's spiritual nature, his feelings, and his intellect.
2. Moreover, privacy is fundamental to accessing other rights, as former Rutgers University President and NYU law professor Edward Bloustein argued in the NYU Law Review:
a. Privacy defines man's essence as a unique and self-determining being. It is because our tradition posits such dignity and independence of will in the individual that the law secures to a man the right to determine "to what extent his thoughts, sentiments, and emotions shall be communicated to others." To refuse a man that right to privacy would leave him less of a man and less of a master over his own destiny.
Invasion of privacy is best understood, in sum, as an affront to human dignity.
Contentions-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contention 1: NSA surveillance programs lack accountability and transparency, undermining