In the last round of his high school debate career the 5A state championship at that Palmer Bo Miller knew he and his partner Anthony Lake would have to argue against something in which he personally believes.
In Kansas’ high school debate, teams of two students face off against another team from a different school in front of an impartial judge. One team is tasked to be the affirmative, or to advance some argument around some general, yearly theme, and convince the judge that the course of action laid out in their argument is the best option for society. This debate season, that theme was criminal justice reform, specifically forensic science practices and sentencing, although teams may, and often do, pick more abstract arguments around those topics.