Restitution (возмещение убытков)

While fines go to the state (or federal or local government prosecuting the crime (уголовное преследование)), restitution is money paid by the defendant to the victim or to a state restitution fund. In some cases, the "victim" is society, such as welfare and Medicare fraud schemes where defendants may be sentenced to pay the state back the money defrauded (обманутый). More typically offenders may be required to return or replace stolen or damaged property, to compensate victims for (выплата компенсации за ч-л) physical injuries, medical and psychological treatment costs or to pay funeral and other costs where a victim dies.

Sometimes, plea bargains are struck where criminal charges are dropped (снятие уголовных обвинений) altogether if the defendant admits guilt and completely compensates the victim for stolen property or a vandalized car. This type of arrangement may be called a "civil compromise."

Probation (испытательный срок)

Probation is a leash that the criminal justice system puts on defendants in lieu of incarceration in jail or prison. Offenders who are put on probation(посадить на испытательный срок) (either instead of or in addition to any other punishment they might receive) are typically required to adhere (придерживать, подчиняться) to a number of "conditions of probation."

Probation officers also can check in on a probationer -- at home or at work, announced or unannounced. Some probationers such as those convicted on drug charges are also subject to random searches and drug tests. Most courts have concluded that probationers do not have the same rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures (наложение ареста) as other people.

Community Service (общественные работы)

Judges can sentence defendants to perform unpaid community work called "community service" to repay a debt (погашать долг) to society for having committed the offense (совершить преступление/нарушение). The defendant may be required to perform community service in addition to receiving some other form of punishment.

Miscellaneous "Alternative Sentences" (другие виды приговоров)

There are many different types of "alternative sentences." Alternative sentencing is the buzzword for an increasingly visible movement in the criminal justice system. Largely inspired by overcrowded and nonrehabilitative prisons, some judges are beginning to work with prosecutors(обвинитель, прокурор) and defense lawyers (защитник осужденного в суде, адвокат) to impose nontraditional sentences, especially in cases that don't involve violence.

People have been required to:

· install breathalyzer devices (алкогольно-респираторная трубка) ("ignition interlocks") in their cars so that their cars will not start unless the offender blows into the device and has "clean" breath (after drunk driving convictions);

· drive around with signs on their cars notifying others they'd been convicted of a drunk driving offense;

· give lectures or teach classes about the dangers of criminal behavior;

· attend lectures given by crime victims (жертвы преступлений);

· do weekend jail time;

· stay at home under "house arrest";

· live in their own slummy building ( if the defendant is a landlord who has been convicted of criminal negligence or other offenses related to the poor condition of the building), or

· serve time («сидеть» за ч-л) in "private jails" -- jails administered by private contractors for a fee which they charge both governments and inmates.

Diversion (программа реабилитации преступников)

Cases can be "diverted" out of the criminal justice system. Defendants whose cases are diverted typically have to participate in a treatment or rehabilitation program. Since criminal charges are normally dropped when a defendant successfully completes a diversion program, diversion allows defendants to escape the stigma of a criminal conviction.

Eligibility for diversion varies from one locality to another. Diversion programs are most often available to defendants charges with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies involving drugs or alcohol. In some jurisdictions, diversion may be available to defendants charged with(обвиненный за ч-л) domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, traffic-related offenses or even writing bad checks.

Vocabulary exercises

1. Name the crimes

a) against property – theft, shoplifting, robbery, burglary, arson

b) against the person – assassination, assault, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, hostage-taking, blackmail, slander and libel, child abuse, child abandonment, domestic violence, extortion, identity theft, solicitation, statutory rape, mugging, espionage

c) road traffic offences – unlicensed driving, speeding, careless driving, drink driving

d) public order offences – hijacking, possession of firearm, riot, violent disorder, public order offence,bomb hoax, sedition

e) political offences – riot, possession of false identity documents, counterfeiting notes and coins, forgery,treason, drug trafficking, breach of the Official Secrets Act, espionage

f) offences against justice – perjury, contempt of Court, obstruction of justice

2. Name the offence.

1. Radio newsreader: Police are appealing for witness (призывать свидетелей дать информацию касательно…)to a suspicious fire lit at a house in Moe last month. The house, in Lincoln St, was set alight about 8pm on 5 May. There was no one inside the house during the fire, which caused extensive damage to the home.  – arson  

2. Police constable (полицейский): Do you know how fast you were going?

Man: There was no speed limit posted. – speeding

3. Extract from a newspaper article: It is believed on 16 April a man has attended a Preston shopping centre on Murray Road and attempted to order a number of smart phones using a false driver’s licence and other false documentation. - possession of false identity documents

4. TV Newsreader: Police have been told the man entered the Boronia Road store, jumped the counter and demanded cash about 10.47am. Once behind the counter, while staff and customers were still present, he made his way to a rear office and removed an amount of cash from the safe. – robbery

5. Shop assistant: I can't accept this £20 note, madam. It's a fake.

 Customer: What? You mean it's counterfeit?

 Shop assistant: I'm afraid so. Do you have any other means of payment? - counterfeiting notes and coins

6. Police officer: Did you call the police?

  Manager: Yes, I did. A man came into the café at about 10.45pm and ordered food. As he left he kicked and shattered the bottom panel of a glass door. - public order offence

7. Man reading newspaper: I don't believe it! Police are cracking down on (принимать меры против к-л) graffiti offenders who continue to travel to Melbourne with the aim of drawing on the city’s walls and trains. Don’t they have other things to do? - public order offence, vandalism

8. Prosecutor: Tell us what happened.

 Man: I was driving my car along the Western Ring Road. A car pulled up beside me and the driver demanded to know why I was travelling so slowly in the right-hand lane. The driver tried to run me off the road and when I got out of my car I was attacked by the driver and his friend. - assault

9. TV presenter: Police have seized almost $7 million worth of heroin, ecstasy and cocaine after stopping a car in the WA Goldfields. - drug trafficking

10. A witness: When my roommate, Mo, was denied citizenship (отказать в гражданстве), he decided he wanted to overthrow (свергать) the US government and supplant (вытеснять) it with a new government. Mo printed leaflets calling for the overthrow of the government by placing a series of bombs in certain places. He passed them out every Saturday. - bomb hoax, overthrowing of the government

11. Radio newsreader: David Norris had been planning the crime for ten years after an insurance company refused to pay out £168,000 when his boat sank in the river. On 8 January, on the 10th anniversary of his boat sinking, he walked into a 14-storey office block with a black holdall containing a fake bomb. - bomb hoax

3. Explain the difference in the meaning of the following words. Are any of them complete synonyms? Write sentences with these words leaving the gap in the place of the words from the list. Let your groupmates guess the word.

1. Criminal – уголовный преступник (commit a crime )

2. Offender – правонарушитель (commits an illegal act)

3. Felon – опасный уголовный преступник

4. Culprit – виновник, виновный

5. Jailbird – рецидивист

6. Convict – осужденный

7. Hoodlum – хулиган

8. Repeater – рецидивист

9. Con – жулик

10. Delinquent – мелкий правонарушитель

4. Make a mind map for the following:

Theft, homicide, road traffic offence, terrorism.

5. Speak about possible disadvantages of each type of punishment in criminal justice.

6. Complete the gaps with the prepositions from the list (you can use the same preposition several times). Make sentences of your own with verbs from the task.

1) He was accused of disclosing military secrets after he published information on the US military presence in South Korea.

2) In May the three men were charged with sedition and "the publication of false news".

3) Two electricians who were engaged on restoration work will be tried for arson.

4) He was robbed of all his money.

5) The complainant had been sentenced to two years' imprisonment for assault.

6) The Governor has been indicted for 23 criminal charges (уголовныеобвинения) including fraud.

7) He was convicted of murder committed during an armed robbery and had a prior conviction for murder with aggravating circumstances (отягчающие обстоятельства).

8) The divorced wife claimed to be cheated out of millions after husband refused to reveal his income. (обманом выманить, убедить в ч-л)

7. Here are some idioms related to law.  a) Match them with their definitions.

1) daylight robbery – чистый грабеж, грабеж средь бела дня, обдираловка

2) to take the fifth – отказаться отвечать на неприятный вопрос

3) legal eagle – эксперт в юриспруденции

4) to cover one’s tracks – замести следы

5) kangaroo court – инсценированный суд, незаконное разбирательство, самосуд

6) to blow the whistle – «стучать на к-л», заложить ч-л

7) to be caught red handed – поймать к-л с поличным

8) cat burglar – вор-форточник, вор-домашник, вор, который забирается в дом по стене

9) to beat the rap – избежать наказания

10) smoking gun – неоспоримое доказательство вины

11) to face the music – отвечать за свои поступки/ действия

12) to clear someone’s name – восстановить пошатнувшую репутацию

13) the law of the jungle – закон джунглей, каждый сам за себя
a) the fact of somebody charging too much            money for something;

b) to be caught doing something wrong;

c) to tell the public or someone in authority about something wrong that you know someone is doing;

d) a court that is not official and is organized to punish someone whether they have committed a crime or not;

e) clear proof that someone has done something wrong or illegal;

f) the principle that you need to be very determined and prepared to harm others in order to be successful;

g) to make use of the right to refuse to answer questions in court about a crime (US);

h) a lawyer, especially one who is very clever

i) to escape without being punished;

j) a thief who climbs up the outside of a building in order to enter it and steal something;

k) to try and hide what one has done, because one doesn’t want other people to find out about it;

l) to accept and deal with criticism or punishment for something you have done;

m) to prove that someone did not do something that they were accused of.

Ответы

1 – a, 2 -g, 3 -h, 4 -k, 5 -d, 6 -c, 7 -b, 8 -j, 9 -i, 10 -e, 11 -l, 12 -m, 13 -f

b) Fill in the gaps with the idioms from the list above.

1. We hope for a world where the rule of law, not jungle governs the conduct of nations.

2. The others all ran off, leaving me to facing the music.

3. This memo could be smoking gun that investigators have been looking for.

4. Well, I will not be judged by the kangaroo court of venal (продажные) politicians.

5. If you blow the whistle on me now, you'll also go to prison.

6. You either take the fifth or you leave yourself open to questions.

7. He was caught red-handed when going through the back door with a stolen bag.

8. He returned after a few months in exile and cleared his name again, thanks to highpriced lawyers.

Reading and speaking

Text 1

1. Read the texts. Think of a different way to entitle them.