DEBATE

Below are links to resources to help you prepare for debate tournaments. We will periodically share information intended to give debaters background knowledge about the case files on this page throughout the year.

The 2019-2020 policy debate topic is:

Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing.

Debaters argue in favor or against criminal justice reform policy in the areas of forensic science (DNA, fingerprinting, etc.); policing; and sentencing. Some plans include (but are not limited to) reforming the police, school resource officers, decriminalization, overpolicing white supremacy groups, etc. Students should pay close attention to current events regarding criminal justice reform.

The First Step Act was a bipartisan effort which made minor changes to the criminal justice system that didn’t go far enough. What it did was spark a conversation which in turn produced a wealth of literature that would be ripe for debate. As the nation with the most incarcerated people per capita we have an obligation to find ways to reform our current system; this resolution offers students the opportunity to explore a plethora of options. Affirmatives can explore different ways to improve policing. These could include, but is not limited to, body cameras, increased community policing, instituting community review boards to investigate police misconduct or can overturn Supreme Court decisions that have increased protections for police officers. When seeking to address forensic science affirmatives can explore the accreditation standards for crime labs, change how evidence is handled, increase testing to establish validity in crime lab results, or institute statutory mechanisms that allows individuals to prove their innocence in court based on evolving science or expert reputation. With respect to the third area of sentencing, affirmatives can change/end mandatory minimum sentencing, can change the way drug crimes are sentenced, or could abolish/change the requirements for the death penalty. Negatives can argue that reforming forensic science would have catastrophic impacts for evidence collection or would lead to an increase in mistakes made in crime labs. When negating policing, teams can argue that increased reform on policing would lead to officers leaving the profession, could mobilize the creation of underground militias, or would cause an increase of violence towards police officers. A generic circumvention argument available to negatives could be that those in power, specifically, Attorney General Barr, will choose to not enforce whatever the affirmative does. Negative teams have access to agent CPs that test the mechanism of the aff; there is a debate to be had on whether Congress or the courts are more effective at initiating reform in the Criminal Justice System. Disadvantage ground would include Federalism DAs that challenge the roles both the federal and state governments play in the criminal justice system, Backlash DAs in the form of police officers rebelling agains

The following is the link for the case files.  Remember, novice is bound to use the novice evidence packet, while JV must only stick to the plan-text.  Varsity debaters will be writing their own case files.

Evidence Packets

Below are articles that can help you prepare for the criminal justice reform topic this year:

• WP article on how public support for police declines
• WP article on the need for police reform
• Vox article on abolishing the police
• Brookings article on defunding the police
• US News article on school resource officers and the school-to-prison pipeline
• WP article on the power of body-worn cameras
• Parkland Officer Who Stayed Outside During Shooting Faces Criminal Charges

Video on Populism BBC Article on Populism CSIS Article on Right-Wing Extremism CJR Article on Right Wing Media

Election 2020 Updates- Washington Post

• Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander