My speach for my senior project

1. Mitch Banister
Mr. Maxwell
Senior Boards Speech
What is the difference between a cat fish and a Lawyer? One is a scum sucking bottom
feeder and the other is a fish. My goal in life is to become the scum sucking bottom feeder, and I
worked with one for senior project. The Lawyer I worked with was one of the “good” guys
depending on where you’ve been in the law, a solicitor. I wanted to know if I really wanted to
pursue this career before I spend the next 7 years of my life attempting to become one. I found
out that the answer is yes
For my research paper I wrote about wrongful convictions in America, it was a scary
thing to research. Many people have been exonerated thanks to DNA evidence proven their
innocence. I want to become a defense attorney before working on this and after doing this paper
it solidified my decision to move on with it. My uncle is a defense attorney and a tree hugger, he
will only accept people who he thinks is truly innocent. He has denied potential clients on the
basis of he does not believe their innocence, I want to work with him.
I encountered just a couple problems with my project, mostly coming from my original,
much cooler product. I want to bring in a court case that I had worked on and show you want I
did and how I helped out our community. But due to legal issues not only can I not work on a
case, but I cannot bring in the document without blurring out a ton of information. I also had
trouble getting pictures for my project due to judge’s not letting me take pictures during trial.
The fact I got a camera in the court building was due to my project facilitator. My last problem
was scheduling, I couldn’t do the original full out internship I wanted. I could not get my classes

2. switched around and given a work permit by my school, so what I did was go to court and work
in their buildings whenever I could which was mostly on break.
My product in which I will show you in just a few more moments is a power point, that
might sound really lame but the head solicitor of Cherokee county will use it during the Pre-Trial
Diversion classes offered her in Cherokee. These classes are offered in Cherokee and are not
offered all over the state, I do not know any other county that offers this. It is designed to be less
expensive than court fees, fines, and losing pay due to large hours of community service. It is
only for people of the age 21 and under and it completely expunges the blemishes on your record
upon completion.
(Product begins) What is a solicitor? A solicitor is an elected official and does not
prosecute cases in Cherokee county, they are more like managers over the lawyers who do. What
is a misdemeanor? It is a “lesser” crime and has a maximum of a year in jail and a maximum fine
of $1,000. (Shows a chart and explains the different rights of someone over 21 and someone 21
and under) these crimes will lead to an automatic license suspension unless the judge takes
mercy on you, then you will get this class. (Shows chart of point value of traffic tickets) Having
only 4 points on your license within a 12 month period of time if you are under 21 will get your
license suspended. If you are over 21 then it will take 15 points in a 24 month period of time.
(Shows questions regarding the drinking age) The drinking age being 21 is a relatively new law
passed in 1996 and it coerced states into accepting by threatening to take away money used for
states highways. Who can get this rule back to 18? You can you have to get involved in your
government but I think the drinking age is fine where it’s at. People who take this class always
point to Europe for drinking age. Well due to Europe’s geography many people can walk or ride
bikes to go places, drunk driving isn’t as big a deal there as it is here. They are also more open in

3. Europe so they do not think it’s bad to let teens drink. But the reason’s you should drink are here
(shows chart) Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Impaired judgment is a
huge one for teens, your judgment isn’t good already much less when alcohol is involved.
(shows chart about Georgia facts) how much money do you think is in the Georgia lottery’s
reserves(wait for an answer) that might seem like a high amount wouldn’t it…well there is 938
million dollars they have posted record breaking sales almost every year it has been in effect.
You need to know what your government is doing and be active in politics because the only time
you’ll care is when it’s too late and you are already affected.
This is the part where the kids here will be able to answer questions so I will leave that
open for you now, thank you for your time and patience throughout my speech.