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Affluenza

Willson Tuck

First Colonial High School

Legal Studies Academy

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A. Abstract

My topic is something of growing concern in 21st century America: Affluenza: An

unbalanced or harmful relationship with money and the pursuit of it 1

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:

Where does Affluenza stem from?

Who can be held accountable for its growth?

What can be done to prevent the spread into the courtroom?

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
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not the demographic of the school along with the socioeconomic status of the defendant

determines how a jury might vote.

B. Skills

New Skills:

Creating a court case

Teaching a class

Coordinating the trial and organizing people's roles

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

to discover what they perceive as affluenza in courtroom. What I wanted my students to

discover for themselves is how the legal system is more in favor of the defendant who is affluent.

D. Project Steps

Preliminary Steps Research information on 5 Hours

affluenza cases, create a
mock court case, secure
venues/classes, meet with
consultant to review mock
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court case

Midway Steps Make revisions to mock case, 6 hours

confirm venues/classes,
secure volunteers for case and
practice, continue to meet
with consultant, create an
agenda for event, secure a
video camera

Later Steps Have rehearsals for court 7 Hours

case, gather props for video,
make jury ballot sheets,
continue to meet with
consultant

Follow up Thank you letters to those 2 Hours

involved and those who
helped

Total 20 Hours (Minimum)

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

two videos. Their responses will be documented in my project.

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.
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G. Project/Paper connection

My project is discovering if two different schools in different socioeconomic spectrums

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

what can be done to prevent the spread into the courtroom?

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
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Bibliography:

1- O'Neill, J. H. (2016). What Others Are Saying... Retrieved September 16, 2016, from
http://www.theaffluenzaproject.com/home/affluenza/