Community Demonstration Debate Wednesday, April 28

Following a tumultuous year of civil unrest in 2020 and continuing riots and protests this year, a timely topic on many of our minds is systemic inequality and violence against minorities, particularly Black and African Americans, in the United States. The recent trial of Derek Chauvin and death of Duane Wright remind us that police brutality and racism are ongoing issues that our society must grapple with. 

This year, policy debate students across the country have been researching and debating the topic of criminal justice reform, and our students have done a deep dive into the social and political issues surrounding police violence, mass incarceration, policing technologies, sentencing disparities, and more. In the spirit of using evidence and logic to understand and advocate for complex topics, we invite the SA community to a live demonstration debate, hosted on Zoom by Sonoma Academy's nationally competitive debate team, on Wednesday, April 28, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. In this debate, the affirmative team (Adri Kornfein '21 and Zoe Price '21) will argue that the United States federal government should divest federal policing resources directed to local and state law enforcement and reinvest such funds in community service alternatives. The negative team (Jack Jacobs '22 and Mateo Mijares '22) will refute this plan, and offer police reform as a viable alternative. We invite the audience to participate in cross examination of our competitors. 

Please RSVP to the event here. Zoom information will be sent to respondents before the event. Any questions can be directed to Lani Frazer, Speech and Debate coach, at lani.frazer@sonomaacademy.org.