Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Affluenza
Willson Tuck
A. Abstract
My title of my paper will be The Effect of Affluenza in The Courtroom, and the project's name
will be 30 for 30: The Affluenza Project. The overarching topic is how bias exists in the
courtroom and those getting off of heinous crimes because of economic standing. My specific
topics will delve into why it's a problem and a possible solution to it. I have selected this as my
project after seeing the impact of Brock Turners ruling and his length of sentence. I have also
chosen this to try and stretch myself, taking the road less traveled. The following questions will
drive my research:
My the goal for my project is to show how affluent defendants can affect the decision of
courts. For my project, I plan to record a court case in the courtroom at First Colonial HS of two
separate but duplicate cases; one with the affluent defendant on trial (male, educated, college
athlete, experienced lawyer) and the other with a lower socioeconomic status on trial (male,
blue-collared, public defender). Both defendants will be the same race to eliminate racial bias
from the court proceedings. The conclusion of the case will be cut from recording. I will take
this video to a government class at two different schools. What I want to discover is whether or
Tuck 3
not the demographic of the school along with the socioeconomic status of the defendant
B. Skills
New Skills:
Teaching a class
Enhanced Skills:
Teaching a class
Marketing an event
C. Marketing Plan/Facilities/Audience
My target audience will be two different sets of students in similar government high
school classes. One set will be at a school in a higher socioeconomic neighborhood, the other in
a lower socioeconomic neighborhood. I had my project occur in two different settings in order
discover for themselves is how the legal system is more in favor of the defendant who is affluent.
D. Project Steps
court case
E. Documentation
My project will be documented though the mock court case recorded through video.
Along with picture documentation, my project will include a jury decision in which the
students will create their own decision based on the information they have gathered through the
F. Justification
Affluenza is a topic which is controversial in its very nature. Many dispute the existence
of the problem of bias in the courtroom. My projects goal is to discover what other high school
students think about this issue, and how they would react to a case which exemplifies affluent
bias. This project is on a new path, and I am very interested as to how it is going to unfold.
Tuck 5
G. Project/Paper connection
will identify how affluenza and teaching them through real-life examples how it is present in
courtroom proceedings. In my paper I hope to divulge the questions that have guided my
research: Where does Affluenza stem from, who can be held accountable for its growth, and
H. Academic Honesty
Academic honesty involves the First Colonial Honor Code; in short explains any work
you have to use another person without mentioning their name too at the top is cheating.
I understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of the project will result in
failure of the Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.
-WET
Tuck 6
Bibliography:
1- O'Neill, J. H. (2016). What Others Are Saying... Retrieved September 16, 2016, from
http://www.theaffluenzaproject.com/home/affluenza/