Rehabilitation Ought to Be Valued Above Retribution in the United States Criminal Justice System
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Resolved: Rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States criminal justice system. Resolved: Rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States criminal justice system. .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 SHORT ESSAY ................................................................................................................................................. 3 DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 4 AFFIRMATIVE ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Section 1: Sample Affirmative Case .......................................................................................................... 7 Section 2: Affirmative Evidence .............................................................................................................. 10 Rehabilitative Justice Lowers Recidivism ............................................................................................ 11 Retributive Justice Leads To High Prison Populations ........................................................................ 12 Retributive Justice Doesn’t Work........................................................................................................ 13 Rehabilitative Justice Benefits Victims ................................................................................................ 14 Rehabilitation Saves Offenders ........................................................................................................... 15 Rehabilitation Is Cost Effective ........................................................................................................... 16 NEGATIVE .................................................................................................................................................... 17 Section 1: Sample Negative Case ............................................................................................................ 18 Section 2: Negative Evidence .................................................................................................................. 21 Retribution Is Popular ......................................................................................................................... 22 Retribution A Key Part Of Punishment ............................................................................................... 23 Retribution Is Inherently Just .............................................................................................................. 24 Rehabilitation Studies Are Flawed ...................................................................................................... 25 Rehabilitation Undermines Punishment ............................................................................................. 26 Rehabilitation Programs Don’t Work .................................................................................................. 27 SHORT ESSAY This resolution asks debaters to interrogate an important element of domestic policy: the criminal justice system, which includes everything leading up to the arrest of a perpetrator through to their eventual punishment (often imprisonment), and whether or not the driving focus of criminal justice should be retribution or rehabilitation. Before we can begin to compare the two, we must first determine what each term means and entails within a system of law. Retribution essentially refers to the philosophy of “an eye for an eye.” Those who favor retribution wish to see criminals be punished proportionate to the damage they inflicted upon society and their victims. Retribution is distinct from restraint and deterrence, though it often results in them both. It is a very natural impulse to wish to harm an individual who brings harm to you, and the principle of vengeance has existed long before codified criminal justice systems. Rehabilitation, on the other hand, is much more willing to forgive criminals and instead works to reform them. The goal of rehabilitation is to remove the criminal element from a criminal and change them into a functioning, helpful member of society. This not only protects society from future harm, but also adds to society through additional good citizens. Rehabilitation in the criminal justice system can take many forms, ranging from drug counseling to education programs to vocational training in hopes of preparing inmates for jobs in the real world. Historically, the U.S. criminal justice system was organized around principles of rehabilitation from the early 1900s until the 1970s. Then, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the beginning of the War on Drugs, and as a result of studies showing that rehabilitation was unsuccessful as a strategy, it became politically and socially popular to advocate for a “tough on crime” approach. The shift to a retributive model of justice resulted in soaring incarceration rates. The United States now has the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world, with over 1.5 million inmates in federal and state prisons. The majority of these inmates are young black males, and many of them are functionally illiterate. This means rehabilitation programs would be wise to focus on basic education programs. The prison population also poorly reflects the demographics outside of prison. On the affirmative, debaters will be well served by stressing that inmates are humans too, and deserve second chances and the opportunity to live a good, productive life. Many studies have been published suggesting that rehabilitation is an effective tool for many inmates, and not only reduces recidivism but also is able to reform prisoners into productive members of society. Another possibility is to focus on the potential damages of retributive justice. As the last 30 years have been the purview of retributive justice, it is not difficult to find experts and politicians arguing that retribution is a flawed method of punishment. It leads to high rates of recidivism and likely does not act as an effective deterrent either. Be ready to explain what type of rehabilitative programs you are advocating for, or at least have some idea of how you will fund all of this as programs tend to be very expensive in the short term and negative teams would be wise to ask. On the negative, one is fighting something of an uphill battle. An interesting strategy would be to critique the usage of value classifications using the philosophies of Nietzsche, suggesting that buying into values causes us to be slaves to dominant morality and removes value to life. In a more substantive vein, one should note that the negative needn’t argue that retribution should be valued above rehabilitation, just that rehabilitation shouldn’t be valued above retribution. Arguing that each should be valued equally will allow you to steal many of the positive benefits of the affirmative’s defense of rehabilitation while advocating for a more balanced system. Then, you need only prove that retribution is in some way a positive part of the criminal justice system to win the debate. Retribution is beneficial for a number of reasons: it is publically popular, it removes criminals’ unfair advantages, and it affirms that individuals are responsible for their actions. DEFINITIONS Given that some terms in this debate have different definitions outside of a criminal justice context than in the abstract (i.e. rehabilitation, retribution), it is important to be very clear in your definitions and to pay close attention to the other side’s in order to ensure there is no confusion in the debate round, and your point gets across as you intend it. Be sure you have a robust explanation of exactly what you mean by rehabilitation and retribution. Following are four terms that can and should be defined, followed by a discussion of their usage in the round. Ought Definition: “used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like” Source: Dictionary.com Definition: “That which should be done, the obligatory; a statement using ‘ought’, expressing a moral imperative” Source: Oxford English Dictionary Definition: “used to express obligation” Source: Merriam-Webster Discussion: The meaning of the term “ought” does not frequently change in most LD debates, but these different definitions can yield very different cases. The affirmative on this topic should consider choosing the first or second definition as the language is stronger and more easily tie in with a value of justice or a case that stresses the moral imperative of not subjecting prisoners retribution. The negative will likely be better served by the third definition as the language is less strong, though s/he should be able to argue within either of the other definitions as well. Rehabilitation Definition: to restore to a former state (as of efficiency, good management, or solvency) Source: Merriam-Webster Definition: to restore to a condition of good health, ability to work, or the like Source: Dictionary.com Discussion: Either of these definitions would work fine in the debate round, but it is important to clarify exactly what you mean by rehabilitation within the context of debate. That may mean providing examples of what rehabilitation programs look like, or how a criminal