Dixie Debate Thread

  1. These are matters important to so many Dixie families. They are personal and unique to each circumstance, but it is our role as community leaders to shape the contours of American ideals on the sanctity of life, privacy, and justice.
  • As a lawyer by trade my whole career has been informed by deference to the branch that interprets our constitution, the Supreme Court. That’s why it’s so critical to have a Senator who can advocate on the issues but also that will vet unelected officials and appointees, who isn’t afraid to say only what is needed to get the point across. I have faith in our Court, and it is their belief that there must be a delicate balance between women’s privacy, medical expertise, and a state’s legitimate interest in protecting those unable to represent themselves. Just as I defer to the courts on matters in their purview, I defer to my wife on matters of hers and doctors in theirs. Roe and Casey are the law of the land; women and all Americans have an equal constitutional right to privacy from the drafting of the Fourth Amendment centuries ago to Griswold fifty years ago and beyond. Counterbalancing these legal and philosophical arguments, medical science is clear on when independent life is sustainable and how limited interventions are before that time. Penalizing a science and its practitioners makes little sense to me. In light of the complex and unique circumstance every women has, like every man has, in their medical decision making, I don’t believe Dixie will face radical changes in these rights and obligations if I am our community’s Senator.

  • I hope by this point my Dixie neighbors can see I am a firm believer in the potential of the American criminal and military justice systems. I’m both a passionate believer in what makes its work well today, and also how much better it could be with some time and attention from Congress. To that end, the death penalty is a constitutionally-prescribed punishment under the auspices of the 8th Amendment against cruelty. It can and should be an option for the worst crimes against the nation: treason, espionage, terrorism. These are horrible offense not only against Dixie’s community but international law. However, from Guantanamo Bay to ADX Florence, we’ve seen that horrible people can be safely kept in prison isolated from law-abiding people to suffer the penalty of time and monotony into old age. In other situations, men and women in Dixie have fell victim to overzealous prosecutors and judges, a confused jury of their peers, or changing science and been deemed innocent after decades in jail or death row. As a lawman and Judiciary Committee member, I can’t abide by 100 dead monsters if one turns out to be innocent: if defeats the character of criminal justice, in a way few in the community can ever address or even have the time to think about. Instead, I would advocate for the option of the ultimate penalty for these most terrible national crimes, while keeping the Senate’s focus on reforming the accuracy of our criminal findings rather than what some across the aisle would seek: quicker execution of justice. Men and times change; death is something we can’t reverse yet.

Thank you for your support.

/r/ModelUSElections Thread Parent