Jordan Berry - Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School

Hello!

I have been a coach and judge since 2015. Most debaters over the years categorize me as a traditional L/D judge. My chief weighing mechanism is usually framework (my undergraduate degree is in philosophy), but I can be persuaded to the contrary. I have no value hierarchy. I strive to keep personal views and ballot intervention away from my RFD. I will evaluate only those arguments brought up by the debaters.

Speed is an issue for me. This is primarily an education and communication activity. I highly doubt either Lincoln or Douglas themselves were spreading, and I've never seen spreading in any real-life situation aside from episodes of "Storage Wars." I do flow the round (though not cross), but "winning the flow" isn't the same as winning the round in some cases; this event is supposed to be persuasive and accessible, not a checklist of responses and replies. Thus, I always roll my eyes when one of my debaters complains about "lay" judges: in crafting a case/round, they should receive as much consideration as that ex-policy debater.

Other issues for me: do be respectful. Do engage meaningfully with the resolution. Do be honest. Do have fun.

Break a leg!

jordan.berry@mps.k12.al.us

P.S. All this extinction stuff is just debaters trolling, right?

Background: I debated PF at Auburn High School. I have a BS in Economics from Auburn University and am working on my MS in Economics at Portland State University. This is my fifth year judging. I'm a flow judge. I judge the round based almost purely off of what is left on the flow after final focus. This means that I value clear voters and good line by line very highly.

Crossfire: I do not flow crossfire. Any points made in crossfire must be brought up in a speech for me to weigh it in the round. If debaters are rude during crossfire it will be reflected in their speaker points.

Evidence: If debaters cannot produce evidence in less than a minute, I assume that they do not have the card. I will ask for cards after the round if I am not clear on the intentions of the author or believe that the card was miscut.

I debated public forum for four years in high school and currently coach public forum. I frequently judge PF and LD and am fine with speed so long as you are not spreading.

Tabula rasa.

PF:

-Do not spread. On a scale of 1-10 for speed I prefer somewhere around 6-7. I would prefer you to slow down or pause a tad for taglines for my flow. Also if you list 4-5 short points or stats in quick succession, I probably will miss one or two in the middle if you dont slow down.

-Arguments you go for should appear in all speeches. If your offense was not brought up in summary, I will ignore it in FF.

-I do not think cross is binding. It needs to come up in the speech. I do not flow cross, and as a flow judge that makes decisions based on my flow, it won't have much bearing on the round.

-At the least I think 2nd rebuttal needs to address all offense in round. Bonus points for collapsing case and completely frontlining the argument you do go for.

-Please time yourselves. My phone is constantly on low battery, so I'd rather not use it. If you want to keep up with your opponents' prep too to keep them honest then go ahead.

-In terms of some of the more progressive things- I haven't actually heard theory in a PF round but I hear it's a thing now. If your opponent is being abusive about something then sure, let me know, either in a formal shell or informal. Don't run theory just to run it though. Obviously, counterplans and plans are not allowed in PF so just don't.

-pet peeves:

1) Bad or misleading evidence. Unfortunately this is what I am seeing PF become. Paraphrasing has gotten out of control. Your "paraphrased" card better be accurate. If one piece of evidence gets called out for being miscut or misleading, then it will make me call in to question all of your evidence. If you are a debater that runs sketchy and loose evidence, I would pref me very high or strike me.

2) Evidence clash that goes nowhere. If pro has a card that says turtles can breathe through their butt and con has a card saying they cannot and that's all that happens, then I don't know who is right. In the instance of direct evidence clash (or even analytical argumentation clash) tell me why to prioritize your evidence over theirs or your line of thinking over theirs. Otherwise, I will consider the whole thing a wash and find something else to vote on.

3) Not condensing the round when it should be condensed. Most of the time it is not wise to go for every single argument on the flow. Sometimes you need to pick your battles and kick out of others, or risk undercovering everything.

LD:
So first, I primarily judge PF. This means my exposure to certain argument types is limited. I LOVE actually debating the resolution. Huge fan. I'm cool with DAs and CPs. Theory only if your opponent is being overly abusive (so no friv). If you are a K or tricks debater good luck. I know about the progressive things but since I primarily judge PF, my ability to evaluate it is very limited from experience. If you want to go for a K or something, I won't instantly drop you and I will try my best to flow and evaluate it in the round. But you will probably need to tweak it a little, slow down, and explain more how it is winning and why I should vote for it. I come from a traditional circuit, so the more progressive the round gets, the less capable I am of making a qualified decision.

I do not want you to flash your case to me. I want to flow it. If you read to point that it is unflowable then it is your loss. If I don't flow it, I cannot evaluate it and thus, cannot vote on it. Spreading in my opinion is noneducational and antithetical to skills you should be learning from this activity. Sorry, in the real world and your future career, spreading is not an acceptable practice to convince someone and get your point across.

Both:
Please signpost/roadmap- I hate when it is unclear where you are and I get bounced around the flow. Have fun and don't be overly aggressive.

4 years of LD experience

I’m up for pretty progressive args.

Spreading is fine with (will call out for in round if needed)

Time yourselves- I'll keep a timer but I'm not paying much attention to it

Don't flow cross ex- anything said in cx should be brought up in rebuttal

Framework debate is super important!

Email: willhaynes11@gmail.com

Background: I debated for four years at Spain Park High School in Hoover, AL: national circuit LD my first two years and national circuit PF for the remainder. I recently graduated from Auburn University with a BS in Biomedical Sciences and minors in Spanish and Philosophy. I am currently a first year medical student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I spent 4 years coaching and judging PF for Auburn High School, mostly on the local Alabama circuit.

Lincoln-Douglass Paradigm

I typically judge PF, but as I stated above, do have experience debating circuit LD. Therefore, I'm pretty flexible when it comes to how you would like to debate. Traditional is probably your safest bet, but I'm not going to disregard your arguments because they are too progressive. Just recognize that since I am a PF coach, I may not evaluate all of your arguments in the same way as an LD circuit judge would.

Flow/Speed: I am a standard flow judge. I can tolerate a brisk pace, but please do not spread.

Theory: I'm good with anything you would like to run. Competing interps>reasonability

K's: I don't particularly like K's. I'm most sympathetic to K's that are using the round to make structural change within the debate community.

Framework: Feel free to run any fun/interesting/non-standard criterions as long as you provide solid justifications.

Public Forum Paradigm

Flow/Speed: I am a typical flow judge. In rebuttals and summaries, please make it clear what argument you're responding to. All turns must be addressed in the following speech, so if you are the second speaker, and your opponent makes a case turn in their rebuttal, you must address it in your rebuttal or else it is dropped. Frontlining can be done in either the rebuttal or summary. I can flow 8/10 on speed. Do not spread. The summary and final focus must be consistent.

Evidence: I will call for cards at the end of the round if I am unclear on the intentions of the author or I have reason to believe it is mis-cut. I will not call for evidence due to washes or lack of weighing.

Crossfire: I do not flow new arguments in crossfire, nor does it have any effect in how I judge the round unless someone is rude, in which case I will deduct speaker points.

Framework: I default to CBA unless another empirically justified framework is offered at the top of the constructive. I enjoy a good framework debate, so do not hesitate to propose a deontological value.

Offense: Under CBA, I only weigh quantifiable and empirically justified impacts as offense. If you do not quantify, there is no objective way for me to compare impacts at the end of the debate.

Fiat: If the resolution is framed in terms of a moral obligation (should, ought ect.), then I judge the debate based off the costs/benefits of the resolution actually taking effect. Therefore, I do not evaluate feasibility claims that have to do with the inabilities of laws or policies to pass through Congress or any other governmental actor unless I am provided with compelling analytical justifications for doing so.

Theory: I believe theory is the best way to correct abuse in a debate round. It is much easier for me to flow theory if it is run in the standard format (A: Interpretation, B: Violation, C:Standards, D:Voters), but I am fine with paragraph theory as long as it is clear and well justified.

Kritiks: I very rarely vote for them, mainly just because I don't believe PF is the most conducive for such arguments so just keep that in mind before you take that risk.

Presumption: In the event that the round ends up with a wash, I will default to the first speaking team.

I debated varsity PF for Auburn for two years. I’m currently a senior at Auburn University studying Industrial Design.

I prefer clear, cogent, and coherent argument. If a point is valid, give logical and empirical argument to support it. Don’t spread.

I value the framework and the flow, so if you bring up a point in crossfire (which I don’t flow) bring it up again in a speech. Be nice.

John Koo

Debate experience: I did 4 years of LD and Congress in high school (Montgomery Academy)

PF: I know exactly what this debate format is so you don't have to worry that I was mostly an LDer.

Most important thing: be civil. Especially in CX, I know you want to ask and answer, but unless your opponent is simply wasting time, be respectful.

Evidence: Evidence is really key. If you have a lot of cards in your case, please organize them in the proper format and citations. If your opponents or I want to see them, please have them readily available for checking. Unfairly cut or misused cards will immediately be thrown away along with the round.

Signpost: Guide me through the flow. I don't want to search my way through my flow to find what you're talking about. It's more beneficial for you to tell me exactly where to look and what to write, so I have more time to think and analyze what you're saying.

LD:

I like a pretty balanced framework debate. That does not mean you simply focus on your values and never tell me why they are important. Show me direct relations of your criterion to your value, and why your contentions reflect those values. I'm pretty knowledgeable about philosophy and any value that you may use, but if you're doing something unorthodox, remember to explain it well to me.

I think structure is extremely important to debate. Yes getting all the information out is good, but be organized with it.

So:

Signpost. Especially in your 2ARs/1NRs, go down the flow. Tell me where I am supposed to be looking at. Although the same topic, every debate round is different. Tell me where exactly your argument works. Tell me where your opponent's argument doesn't work. I will only judge what you say in the round. I don't assume anything.

Speed. From years of debate on many different levels, I have learned to handle any type of speed. However, always keep in mind that I may miss something you say if you go extremely fast or are unclear. I know especially in those 2ARs there is a lot of information you want to tell me, but please try to be calm and collected.

Arguments. I know CPs, Ks, DisAds, Theories, etc... Thoroughly explain to me why something or your opponent is abusive if you believe that. Although I always leave my personal beliefs out of judging, I am going to try and protect those from a very abusive CP. I will be somewhat biased there when I can see a clear misuse.

Overall, ask if you have any other questions or preferences you want to know. Please be respectful to your opponent. That is the most important thing, and have a good debate round.

Experience-

Lay parent judge. Judged for three years at local tournaments.

Speed-

I’d prefer that you don’t spread. If thats your style, then go for it but if I don’t get something in the case its on you. Also, slow down for tag lines and author names if possible.

Framing-

Its probably best if your framing is something consequentialist. You can go for philosophical args or narrow frameworks but it needs to be explained more. On framework weighing, I like for there to be offensive reasons to prefer the framework rather than just giving defense to the other persons and saying yours is “moral.” Depending on the framework, you should probably give an explanation of which arguments can and cant be evaluated under it or you’re just going to be wasting your time. Show what arguments weigh the most under the framework and which cant be evaluated.

Casing-

I need some way to weigh between impacts. Tell me how to evaluate the round or I just have two contentions that have no clear winner. Clear voters at the end are also insanely nice and help on weighing between args.

Incase you feel the need to run circuit args-

T- Ill buy it if the aff has some extreme interp of the resolution. It really is more of a reasonability thing, though. If its a traditional round, it doesn’t need to be in shell format.

theory- It needs to be actual abuse to warrant theory. Much of the stuff on T is the same here.

DA- yea, sure. Im more of truth over tech. This doesn’t mean you cant go for nuke args, especially since this topic links to them pretty easily, but it does mean there should be work done on the link.

CP- go for it. There needs to be a net benefit though.

K- probably not the best thing to go for unless its cap. The link and alt need to be extremely clear.

Speaks-

I average between 27-30. A 29 is an expectation that you’ll break and a 30 means it was probably the best round I judged. Anything significantly lower than a 27 means you probably did something immoral (ie. arguing racism good).

Jokes can boost speaks. Especially if you’re in a round you feel is not winnable, you can still make it fun.

In High School I competed in poetry and extemp. I dabbled in Debate in college for a year and I fell in love with debate. I graduated from West Texas State University with a degree in Speech Communication and Theater Education. I coached and judged Speech and Debate events in Texas in the UIL circuit for 10 years. I judged events for a homeschool/private school group in Huntsville for 2 years. I have coached and judged in the NSDA circuit for 3 years.

1. I am NOT a fan of SPREADING and if you speak so fast that I am unable to flow your arguments, I will put my pen down and I can no longer judge you. Spreading is unnecessary for a well-crafted case.

2. EVIDENCE is very important, and it needs to back up the case you are presenting. I am not opposed to you doing this pragmatically, and I enjoy when you can back this up with real world examples.

3. I will judge this case on your use of evidence, direct clash and speaking style. Did you prove your case, did you present the best case, did you attack your opponent’s case?

I am okay with any speed.

Speak your contention very clearly at the beginning of your points, I prefer off time roadmaps.

Time yourself and tell me loudly when you are starting.

Keep your own prep time, inform me that you are taking prep and tell me how much time was taken after.

Know all the speech times so we can avoid confusions and get through the round fast.

If a coin flip is required, the debaters will flip and decide and inform me after which side they are on and speaking order.

No preference on desk arrangement or how CX is done.

***No prior debate experience (lay judge), however, been judging Individual Events and occasionally Public Forum for the past 4 years

- state your framework (if you have one) at the beginning of your debate

- when you state your contentions, make sure you state them clearly

- off-time roadmaps are helpful

- prefer no spreading, but keep in mind I can't flow towards you if I can't understand/hear you

- prefer you keep your own times

Jay Rye - Head Coach - Montgomery Academy

Experience- I have been involved with L/D debate since 1985 as a former L/D debater, judge, and coach. I have been involved with Policy debate since 1998. I have coached Public Forum debate since it began in 2002. While at many tournaments I serve in the role as tournament administrator running tournaments from coast to coast, every year I intentionally put myself into the judge pool to remain up to date on the topics as well as with the direction and evolving styles of debate. I have worked at summer camps since 2003 - I understand debate.

Philosophy

I would identify myself as what is commonly called a traditional L/D judge. Both sides have the burden to present and weigh the values and/or the central arguments as they emerge during the course of the round. I try to never allow my personal views on the topic to enter into my decision, and, because I won't intervene, the arguments that I evaluate are the ones brought into the round - I won't make assumptions as to what I "think" you mean. I am actually open to a lot of arguments - traditional and progressive - a good debater is a good debater and an average debater is just that - average.

While for the most part I am a "tabula rasa" judge, I do have a few things that I dislike and will bias me against you during the course of the round either as it relates to speaker points or an actual decision. Here they are:

1) I believe that proper decorum during the round is a must. Do not be rude or insulting to your opponent or to me and the other judges in the room. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish with that approach to debate.

2) Both sides must tell me why to vote "for" them as opposed to simply why I should vote "against" their opponent. In your final speech, tell me why I should vote for you - some call this "crystallization" while others call it "voting issues" and still others just say, "here is why I win" - whatever you call it, I call it letting your judge know why you did the better job in the round.

3) I am not a big fan of speed. You are more than welcome to go as fast as you want, but if it is not on my flow, then it was not stated, so speed at your own risk. Let me say that to the back of the room - SPEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! If you have a need for speed, at the very least slow down on the tag lines as well as when you first begin your speech so that my ears can adjust to your vocal quality and tone.

4) I am not a big fan of "debate speak: Don't just say, cross-apply, drop, non-unique, or other phrases without telling me why it is important. This activity is supposed to teach you how to make convincing arguments in the real world and the phrase "cross-apply my card to my opponents dropped argument which is non-unique" - this means nothing. In other words, avoid being busy saying nothing.

5) Realizing that many debaters have decided to rely on the Wiki, an email chain, and other platforms to exchange the written word, in a debate round you use your verbal and non-verbal skills to convince me as your judge why you win the round. I rarely call for evidence and I do not ask to be on any email chain.

Affilliation: Vestavia Hills

I've judged for PF. I use to be be a PF and CX debater. 

Most important thing I'm looking for is the content of the arguments and impact arguments. Not a huge fan of Kritik arguments. I'm fine with people going faster than normal talking/PF speed but please don't use policy debate speed/spread- just be clear.   

As a student, I competed at both the middle and high school levels in Individual Speech Events including, Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Declamation. As a freshman in high school, I won the 1988 KY state championship in Oratorical Declamation. My university did not offer competitive speech and debate, so I did not compete at the collegiate level. I have taught English for 19 years, and have been the IE coach of our school's Speech and Debate team for the last 7 years. I have had students qualify for NSDA nationals in IE events in 2017, 2018, and 2019, 2020, and 2021. While coaching our team, I have had a student place in the top 60 at nationals in Dramatic Interpretation. 12th in the nation in Expository, and some of my students have claimed AL state championships in OO, Informative, and After Dinner Speaking. I have also had AL State Runners-up in DI and Duo. I enjoy contemporary pieces as much as old classics. I don't mind pieces with controversial themes, provided the topics are presented appropriately within the context of the piece.

I prefer to judge IE events, but am prepared to judge debate when needed. The following is what I prefer and/or look for when I judge debate events:

1. I am not a fan of spreading. If you speak so quickly that I am unable to flow your arguments, I will put my pen down and no longer judge you. Spreading is unnecessary for a well-crafted case.

2. Evidence is very important, and it should back up your case.

3. I will judge your case based on your use of evidence, direct clash, and speaking style. Did you prove your case, did you present the best case, and did you attack your opponent’s case?

I debated LD for Vestavia for 3 years and PF for 1 year. I did debate on the national circuit, so I can handle speed, theories, and other off-cases. I do not like K's so I will not vote on them. I'll let you know if you need to slow down by saying clear. I love a good framework and standards debate, so I'd generally prefer that it be the focal point. Clear extensions and turns are of course preferred. I also dislike "squirrelly" arguments, so that's another topic that I largely will not vote on. Other than that, I've had 4 years of judging experience and I have judged at Nationals. 

Experience:I did not compete in Debate in high school or college, but I have been assisting with a debate program and judging for the past four years. I usually judge Public Forum, but I have also judged speech events and Big Question Debate. I am currently in my ninth year of teaching social studies. I teach United States History and International Baccalaureate History of the Americas.

Preferences: I can follow relatively fast speaking but please don't spread.

I debated PF for 3 years in high school.  I can flow a speaking speed of about 7 or 8/10, but please don't spread.  PF is meant for the public to be able to understand, so I would much rather you speak at a normal pace and appeal to me with not only facts and statistics, but also logic.  I prefer that you stand during your speeches and crossfire, and please be respectful and courteous to your opponents.  Don't spend a ton of time arguing over one little point of your case- think about how important it is in relation to the whole debate.  Try to focus more on the big picture.  Don't bring up new evidence during summary or final focus- I won't flow it.  And please use the final focus the way it is meant to be used- it is a very important part of the debate.  When refuting, go line-by-line and don't jump around if you want to ensure that I won't be confused. 

Traditional, not too quick on speed, new to judging