Former high school debater left shocked by biased judges: 'Conform or fail'

A former high school debate champion warned competitions have been hijacked by biased left-leaning judges. 

James Fishback, founder and executive director of Incubate Debate, recently wrote in a May op-ed that some students have lost debates based on personal social media posts. He went on to explain that students would "automatically lose" if they argued in favor of subjects like Israel, police or capitalism. 

Judges’ restrictions around other topics, like transphobia or xenophobia, are more subtle, Fishback said in the op-ed.

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"This ambiguity creates fear and self-censorship in these students who go on to compete," Fishback explained on "America’s Newsroom," Tuesday. "They think they can't make certain arguments. And as a result, high school debate becomes an echo chamber where certain viewpoints are not allowed to be heard."

Lawence Joseph, a recent high school graduate, told guest host Martha MacCallum that before a November debate, a judge instructed students to "appeal to the judges."

Joseph said the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) has become a detriment to free speech in America. 

"The NSDA has put [students] in an environment where you either conform or fail every single time," Joseph said. 

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Briana Whatley, a high school sophomore, previously spoke out about the issue in May. Before a debate round on President Biden’s track record on foreign affairs, Whatley said she was told by a judge that it would be deemed "inappropriate" to bring up former President Trump. 

"If a student like me who was going into debate to have free and open conversations is being censored in this way, that is no longer debate," Whatley said. "The NSDA must be recognized as an organization that is not allowing students like myself to express openly."

Fishback called on the NSDA to take action and remove judges who are openly influenced by personal biases.

"Bring free speech back to high school debate," Fishback said. "We've got to bring civility and diversity of viewpoints back to this once cherished high school activity."

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In a previous statement responding to Fishback's reporting, the NSDA said, "The 47,000 judge paradigms house (on Tabroom.com) represent the opinions and viewpoints of the individual paradigm authors… Judging paradigms allow students to adapt to a wide diversity of ideological views from thousands of volunteer judges across the world. However, on each and every ballot we ask all judges to reflect and remove bias and unfair feedback."