Civil Rights Opposing Viewpoints

Day 1:
● Find and save 4 articles on a civil rights issue. Each article should be a different viewpoint on the
SAME topic.
● Copy and paste the headline and hyperlink of each article.
● Write a thorough summary for each article.
Day 2:
● Use the AP Argument Writing Scoring Rubric to evaluate each article. Give it a number score,
but more importantly, justify why you scored it that way. The more detailed and specific you are,
the better.
● Finally, answer the question at the end of the assignment.

Headline & Link: Punishment Fails. Rehabilitation Works. New York Times

Article Summary: The way our prison systems work in the United States are less than
beneficial for the prisoners inside of them. We are more focused on
punishment than rehabilitation when it has been proven that rehabilitation is
more effective than punishment.

Thesis The only rational purpose for a prison is to restrain those who are
violent, while we help them to change their behavior from that pattern
to one that is nonviolent and even constructive, and return to the
community.

Evidence & ➔ More than 90 percent of prisoners return to the community

Commentary within a few years
◆ Problem with overpopulation
➔ Getting a college degree while in prison is the only program
that has ever been shown to be 100 percent effective for years
or decades at a time in preventing recidivism
➔ Is used in other countries effectively.

Sophistication

Headline & Link: Prison reform would reduce crime, turn former prisoners into
productive citizens Fox News

Article Summary: This article explains why prison reform is needed, and how God agrees in
the sense that the prison should help by having rehabilitation in prison
systems.

Thesis The Prison Reform and Redemption Act would help prepare prisoners
for release by assessing their individual risk factors, asking what puts
 each person in danger of committing another crime tomorrow.

Evidence & ➔ Up to 90 percent of people released from prison struggle to find

Commentary employment in the first year after release
◆ Securing a job is one of the most important factors in
avoiding recidivism
➔ “People are created in the image of God, with dignity and the
potential to change. Rehabilitative prison reforms reflect the value
of both offenders and the people in their communities.”

Sophistication

Headline & Link: The downside of criminal justice reform The Hill

Article Summary: When we are too soft with prison reform we are allowing people to be
released too soon, and allowing criminals to be free among regular citizens.

Thesis Reducing justice reform has been used to justify dramatic judicial changes
in cities across the country that have been run for generations by liberal
Democrats.

Evidence & ➔ Criminal justice systems are instituted want too far
Commentary ◆ Reducing illegal gun possession to a misdemeanor
● Even if the individual was a convicted felon
➔ Crime rates are increasing now with the reduction of certain
punishments in the prison system
➔ “All too often, unrepresentative examples are generalized, whether
it’s racial biases in southern judicial systems or the isolated
examples of police killing unarmed Black men — fewer than 15
annually for the past three years, according to data assembled by
the Washington Post.”

Sophistication

Headline & Link: Why Prison Reform Is Not Enough to Fix the U.S. Criminal Justice System
Center for American Progress

Article Summary: But without drastic changes to federal sentencing laws, even these more
expansive reforms to the BOP would not address the fundamental injustices:
The U.S. federal criminal justice system incarcerates too many people for
too long. Congress should consider carefully the consequences of obtaining
a legislative victory in passing prison reform and of trusting an attorney
general who has not demonstrated enough commitment to any criminal
justice reform to implement it.
 Thesis This bill (Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act) would address both
prison and sentencing reform: Not only would it help people in prison
prepare for life in their communities after serving their sentences, but it
also would make sentencing laws more just and proportional to the
offense committed.

Evidence & ➔ Before Trump’s administration there were bills and laws being
Commentary passed by both Republicans and Democrats on justice reform.
◆ Halted with the new Attorney General in place
➔ Prison reform is a chain of acts that need to happen
◆ Reforming sentencing
◆ Reforming the actions inside the prison
◆ Having residential reentry centers
◆ Have opportunities for the inmates as soon as they get out
so that way they can have an opportunity
➔ Way people talk about crimes is rationalizing that all crimes are
violent when a small percentage are.

Sophistication

Finally, according to the rubric (not your own personal views), which article presented the most effective
argument? Explain.