Affirmative Actios Policy

SPEECH 6 Argumentation and Debate

Stephanie Fleming

Tue-Thu 1:00pm-4:00pm Section 8044

7/24/2012

Affirmative Policy Case

I. Introduction

A. Attention Statement/Briefly State the Problem:

1. Good afternoon. Welcome and thank you for joining us as we are brought here today to examine an ongoing problem facing the citizens of California.

2. Briefly State the Problem: As reported by www.reason.org, The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has an annual budget of approximately $9.6 billion for a prisoner population of 171,278. The Texas prison system, the only system with a comparable number of prisoners, has a population of 171,252 and a budget of only $3.2 billion. California spends $45,000 annually per prisoner; that number is over 50% higher than the national average and almost three times that of Texas. And yet the Texas prison system is more effective at rehabilitation as measured by reoffending rates, with Texas sending prisoners back to jail approximately half as frequently as California.

B. This is why we stand resolved that "This House should reform funding for prisons."

C. We offer the following definitions:

1. This House: The State of California

2. should: indicate a policy

3. reform: According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, to put or change into an improved form or condition

4. funding: to provide funds

5. for prison: a state of confinement or captivity

D. The voting criteria for this debate will focus on net benefit. Whichever team increases the profit after cost to maximize the state budget should win this debate.

II. Significance

A. Harm 1: The current system for prisons in California is inefficient.

1. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), a three-judge federal board decided that conditions in the state's prisons are so appalling that the state must construct a plan to release over 40,000 prisoners to relieve overcrowding and maintain basic quality of life for the prisoners. The environment was described in the court opinion as "criminogenic", which means that it increases the likelihood of inmates committing crimes.

2. As mentioned by the www.economist.com, article titled Jail House Blues reported in February 2011 it takes California an average of seven years to build a new state prison through traditional methods burdened with difficult rules and cost mandates. By contrast, private corrections companies can deliver an equivalent facility in approximately year.

B. Harm 2: The overspending on security personnel is straining the current system.

1. Correctional officers are California's single biggest personnel expense. According to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), www.lao.ca.gov, article titled; Correctional Officer Pay, Benefits, and Labor Relations, February 7, 2008, the state's politically powerful prison guards union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) represents one of every seven state employees, but it accounts for an excessively high rate of 40% for all state personnel costs backed by the state's General Fund.

2. The California