Joe Biden will refocus criminal justice on rehabilitation

The argument

Joe Biden understands the issue of mass incarceration, especially targeted towards black and brown people. Biden has a plan to refocus America’s criminal justice system on redemption and rehabilitation, so he should be elected in the 2020 presidential election. Biden has a plan for mental health or substance abuse convicts to be connected with social services instead of prisons. Instead of being neglected in prisons, these vulnerable communities need resources and support from social services. This plan would allow for people with mental health issues or victims of substance abuse to rehabilitate their lives as opposed to ruining their lives in prison. Joe Biden believes in second chances. As a result, Biden has a plan to not only enable incarcerated individuals to re-enter society but fully reintegrate them as contributors to society. For example, he will ensure ex-convicts have stable housing, connections to job agencies, and encourage companies to not discriminate against formerly incarcerated people. Joe Biden also hopes to end the cash bail system and for-profit prisons. Instead of making money through people's misfortunes in the criminal justice system, Biden will focus on rehabilitation. Joe Biden makes a commitment to refocus the criminal justice system on rehabilitation and redemption. Due to his plan for a better America, Joe Biden should be elected in the 2020 presidential election.

Context

The American criminal justice system has faced scrutiny and backlash in the last decade. As the NAACP contends that 1 out of 3 black boys can face arrest at some point, the call for criminal justice reform could not be stronger.

Premises

Counter-arguments

It seems difficult to believe that Biden will actually implement such a progressive view on criminal justice. In the past, Biden has been known to be tough on crime. For example, he criticized George H.W. Bush for not escalating the war on drugs back in the 1980s. Specifically, Biden pushed for the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988, two stringent laws that were tough on drugs and established mandatory sentences. With a history in government contradicting his future plans, it is hard to believe that Biden will follow through with his plan for a focus on rehabilitation in the criminal justice system.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The premises describe proposals rather than a record, and most of what they promise — ending cash bail, closing for-profit prisons, diverting people to social services — sits with state governments and legislatures rather than with a president, so the plan's existence does not establish that it would be enacted. [Rejecting P2] Reintegration measures such as housing and job connections address what happens after incarceration rather than the scale of incarceration the argument opens with, and the candidate's earlier authorship of mandatory-minimum drug legislation is the obvious reason to ask whether the commitment would hold — a question the premises do not engage.