Тема 5. Kinds of law in the United States
Упражнение 1. Прочитайте и переведите текст
There are 51 basic legal systems in the United States: the federal system and a separate system in each of the 50 states. Although these systems are mainly similar, they also have important differences. For example, laws governing marriage and divorce are not the same in all states. The differences among legal systems exist because each of the original 13 states was previously sovereign (independent).
The US law consists of the following:
1. The constitutions of the United States and of the 50 states, and charters or constitutions for cities or counties,
2. The statutes enacted by elected representatives
3. Administrative law, and
4. Case law, as expressed in court decisions.
These four types of laws – constitutional, statutory, administrative, and case – are each created by federal and state governments. Local governments generally create only statutory and administrative laws.
1. ____________________
Constitutions are the supreme sources of law. The federal Constitution of the USA is said to be «the supreme law of the land». This means that any state law – including a part of a state constitution – is void to the extent that it conflicts with the federal Constitution.
The Supreme Court of the United States is the final interpreter of the federal Constitution and each state supreme court is the final authority on the meaning of its state constitution.
The federal and state constitutions allocate powers:
1. Between the people and their governments,
2. Between state governments and the federal government, and
3. Among the branches of the governments.
The federal Constitution is the main instrument for allocating powers between persons and their governments. It does this with its first ten amendments to the constitution, called the Bill of Rights, which protect citizens from certain acts of their governments. Important rights of citizens are included in the Bill of Rights. They are:
1. freedom of religion,
2. freedom of speech, press, and peaceable assembly,
3. security in person and property against unreasonable searches and seizures,
4. right to remain silent if accused of a crime, and to have a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury,
5. protection from any cruel or unusual punishment if convicted of a crime,
6. right to fair compensation for private property taken by the government for any public purpose, and
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7. protection from deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
The federal Constitution allocates certain governmental powers to the federal government and certain other powers to the state governments.
State and federal constitutions allocate governmental powers among the three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Constitutions do this to create a system of checks and balances among the branches so that no branch of government becomes too powerful.
2. ____________________
The Congress of the United States and federal legislatures are composed of elected representatives of the people. Acting on behalf of their citizens, these legislatures may enact new statutes.
All state legislatures have delegated some of their legislative authority to local governments. Thus, towns, cities, and counties can legislate in their own geographic areas on matters over which the state has given them authority. This legislation is created by a town or city council or by a county board or county commission. Legislation of this type is usually called an ordinance rather than a statute.
To be valid, the statute or ordinance must not conflict with the federal Constitution or state constitution.
3. _____________________
The federal, state, and local legislatures all create administrative agencies.
Although they are created by legislatures, administrative agencies are usually operated by the executive branch of the government. Thus, the President, governor, or mayor will supervise the agency’s activities. For example, the United States Congress created the Internal Revenue Service (an agency) and directed that the President appoint and supervise the staff of the agency.
The rules and regulationsestablished by an administrative agency generally have the force of law. Like statutes, the regulations can be reviewed by courts to determine whether they are constitutional. In addition, the courts may invalidate a rule or regulation if it is beyond the scope of powers delegated by the legislature.
4. _____________________
Case law is created by the judicial branches of governments. Each state creates case law through its state courts. Similarly, federal courts establish federal case law. Case law is usually made after a trial has concluded and one of the parties has appealed the case. This may result in a review of parts of the trial by a higher court – a process called appellate review. When the appellate court publishes its opinion on a case, that opinion may state, and thereby create, new case law.
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The effectiveness of case law arises out of the doctrine of stare decisis (Latin for «to abide by, or adhere to decided cases»). This doctrine requires that once case law is established, it must be followed by lower courts in other similar cases. Stare decisis generally does not strictly bind appellate courts because they can overturn their own case law when justified by new conditions or better understanding of the issues.
While courts are the final authority on the interpretation of constitutions and the constitutionality of statutes, rules, and ordinances, they are not the final authority on the content and meaning of such legislation. Legislative bodies can, in effect, nullify a court decision interpreting its statute, ordinance, or rule by abolishing or rewriting the statute or amending the constitution.
Упражнение 2. Соедините следующие подзаголовки с абзацами в тексте:
A. Statutory law
B. Case law
C. Administrative law
D. Constitutional law
Упражнение 3. Найдите англо-русские соответствия.
| 1. | legislative authority | A | правила и нормативы |
| 2. | stare decisis | B | аннулировать |
| 3. | amendment to the constitution | C | статутное право |
| 4. | lower courts | D | «стоять на решенном» |
| 5. | Statutory law | E | законодательная власть |
| 6. | to delegate authority | F | система сдержек и противовесов |
| 7. | to nullify | G | поправка к конституции |
| 8. | to overturn | H | правительственное учреждение |
| 9. | rules and regulations | I | вне (чьей – л.) компетенции |
| 10. | system of checks and balances | J | передавать полномочия, поручать |
| 11. | beyond (one’s) scope | K | опровергать, отменять |
| 12. | administrative agency | L | суды первой инстанции |
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Упражнение 4.Ответьте на вопросы.
1. What is the cause of differences among legal systems in different states?
2. What does the US law consist of?
3. Do the federal and state constitutions allocate powers or not? If they do, say how?
4. The regulations can be reviewed by courts, can’t they?
5. What does the doctrine stare decisis mean?
Упражнение 5. Заполните пропуски, используя следующие слова:Accused, evidence, convicted, sentenced, tried, arrested, guilty, put, suspected.
The police had 1) _______ Paul Williams for months, and when they finally gathered some real 2) _______ against him he was 3) _________ by the police and 4) ________ of trafficking in drugs. A few weeks later he has 5) _______ for the crime. The jury were quickly convinced that he was 6) _______ of drug-trafficking, so he was 7) _______ of the crime and 8) _______ to 10 years in prison. The police were satisfied they had managed to 9) _________ such a dangerous criminal behind bars.
Упражнение 6. Прочитайте письмо и зачеркните ненужные слова там, где это необходимо.
Dear Sal,
1. I was sorry for to hear you’re having legal problems. You should have been
2. asked for my advice sooner, but even if is a bit late I’ll tell to you what I think
3. of. First of all, you must to consult an accountant right away. You obviously
4. can’t have been cheating on your taxes, but it’s not so many easy to convince
5. the tax inspectors without to having all the right documents. You should also go 6. over your tax forms again and make it sure you didn’t make a mistake. If you
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7. want, I could have come to Bristol and give you a hand with the whole paper
8. work. Even if we sort it out together, you should still get the advice
9. of a professional. Give me a ring if you want a help, and don’t you worry –
10. I’m sure it will all work out.
Love, Sally.
Упражнение 7. Задайте все типы вопросов к следующим предложениям.
1. He always makes sure his car is securely locked.
2. Helen decided to hire a body-guard.
3. The policeman advised him to fit an alarm system.
4. Claudine never parks her car in an unattended car park.
Упражнение 8. Заполните пропуски, используя следующие предлоги: On, of, with, from, in, to
1. He was sent _______ prison for several years.
2. Jemmy accused Tom _______ stealing money from her bag.
3. Claire killed her husband. She has been charged _______ murder.
4. The judge passed verdict _______ the accused man who was sentenced _______ four years _______ prison.
5. Finally they decided to release him _______ jail.
6. The accused person was acquitted _______ a charge and left the courtroom smiling broadly.
Упражнение 9. Заполните пропуски в таблице, образуя существительные (названия преступлений и преступников) и глаголы.
| CRIME | CRIMINAL | VERB |
| a shoplifter | ||
| to rape | ||
| smuggling | ||
| theft | ||
| a kidnapper | ||
| to rob | ||
| a burglar | ||
| murder | ||
| to set fire to | ||
| a blackmailer | ||
| to forge | ||
| terrorism | ||
| a drug-trafficker | ||
| to assault | ||
| a pickpocket | ||
| mugging |
Упражнение 10. Переведите предложения с русского языка на английский.
1. Если обвиняемый виновен в совершении преступления, например убийства, то приговор может быть от 10 лет тюрьмы.
2. Суд присяжных должен решить, виновен или невиновен обвиняемый.
3. В Великобритании противозаконно ездить за рулем без страховки.
4. Чтобы прийти к решению, суд присяжных должен внимательно выслушать все свидетельские показания.
5. Он никогда не нарушал закона и не совершал преступления. Лишь однажды у него были проблемы с полицией, но это было мелкое правонарушение.
6. Вам придется заплатить штраф, если вы припаркуетесь в запрещенном месте.
7. Полицейские знали, будет сложно доказать в суде, что обвиняемый виновен и совершил данное преступление.
Тема 6. Punishment
Упражнение 1. Прочитайте и переведите текст
How can the truth be discovered? Is there a reliable and safe way to make sure others are telling the truth?
One of the best-known and cleverest solutions was that used by a king in ancient times. According to the story, King Solomon, who was renowned for his wisdom, was once faced with two women both claiming to be the mother of the same baby. He threatened to cut the baby in half in order to settle the disagreement. The truth was revealed instantly when the real mother offered to give up her baby rather than see it die. Of course, interrogators who lack Solomon’s legendary wisdom have to rely on other methods to discover the truth.
The questions remains: is there really a foolproof way of finding the truth? In the past, the basic techniques used to get prisoners to reveal the truth varied. They included physical torture, depriving prisoners of sleep, making them stand for hours with their arms stretched above their heads, and putting them in solitary confinement, a practice which is still employed today.
In modern times the techniques commonly used cause psychological rather than physical suffering. These methods may be effective in making prisoners or suspects talk, but when people are forced to confess, do they always tell the truth? If a prisoner, for example, is made to suffer a lot, it seems obvious that false confessions may be given just to satisfy the interrogator. Obviously, the problem of distinguishing between lies and truth remains.
Perhaps the best-known scientific method relies on the fact that lying causes stress. Stress creates physical symptoms which can be recorded when trying to decide whether a person is telling the truth or not. The device used to record these symptoms is called a lie-detector or polygraph. It is widely used by police and other agencies. It indicates whether the person questioned is being honest as it records changes in the heart rate, blood pressure and other physical factors during questioning.
Most polygraph experts now admit that the method is not perfect: even an innocent person will feel under stress when faced with a serious accusation. As a result, a more accurate technique has been developed. With this technique, the person being questioned is instructed to deny questions like “Before 1990, did you even do anything dishonest?” Since most people would be guilty of this to some extent, the polygraph will show some stress caused by the denial of the truth. For innocent people, this will be the highest stress they show, while a murderer will become even more stressed when denying a question about his or her involvement in the murder.
Recently, it has been shown that people can be trained to trick lie-detecting machines. By biting their tongues or counting backwards, guilty people can make themselves appear under stress when answering innocent questions, and this often makes the results inaccurate. The fact remains, however, that some people make better liars than others. Even clues like body language, tone of voice and eye contact can be controlled by a good deceiver. The basic problem with all methods is that if the person is in control, they can easily mislead their questioners, while if the person is not in control due to pain or drugs, what they say may not be true at all.
Упражнение 2. Найдите в тексте перевод следующих словосочетаний:
Детектор лжи, физические пытки, одиночное заключение, лишить сна, уладить спор, надежный и безопасный способ, зрительный контакт, находиться под стрессом, невиновный человек, обмануть (ввести в заблуждение) допрашивающего, столкнуться с серьезным обвинением, открыть правду, ложные признания.
Упражнение 3. Укажите истинность или ложность следующих утверждений. Дайте правильный вариант на ложные утверждения. Начните свой ответ со следующих вводных конструкций:
e.g. In my opinion it is true that ….; I’m afraid it is false that … because…
T/ F 1. King Solomon was well known for his wisdom.
T/ F 2. The polygraph is used to detect hidden documents.
T/ F 3. The problem of distinguishing between lies and truth has been solved.
Упражнение 4. Выберите правильный вариант.
1.He decided to give _______ his life of crime and become a responsible citizen.
A off B in C out D up
2. The results of the experiment will be _____ if it is not carried out very carefully.
A inaccurate B impractical C false D improper
3. The boy ________ to having broken the window.
A claimed B confessed C refused D agreed
4. I don’t think he was being _______ when he said that he had been at home all night.
A true B fair C honest D right
5. How many criminals were _______ in the robbery?
A involved B interfered C included D participated
6. The policemen were given special ______ for dealing with terrorist activity.
A coaching B practice C exercise D training
7. After months of investigation, the truth was finally ________
A appeared B shown C revealed D found
Упражнение 5. Заполните пропуски, используя следующие предлоги:Under, before, of, in, with, to
1. The accused is being kept ________ custody until the trial begins.
2. He was sentenced ______ ten years in prison for committing armed robbery.
3. The police have placed two men suspected of the kidnapping _____ arrest.
4. I was shocked to hear that Mark was accused ________ fraud.
5. He’s been charged _________ a crime he did not commit.
6. The witness appeared ________ court and gave his testimony.
7. The accused was kept ________ handcuffs throughout the trial.
8. The case was brought ________ the court.
9. When the jury reached a verdict _______ not guilty, the accused
breathed a sigh of relief.
Упражнение 6. Заполните пропуски, используя глаголы, данные в скобках, в нужной грамматической форме и определите залог (Active or Passive Voice).
Dear Julie,
Well, I arrived safely, but my luggage didn’t! After many enquiries I found that it (1) _____ (send) to Finland instead of England! Apparently, it (2) ______ (label) wrongly at check-in. Anyway, it finally (3)______(arrive) three days ago and, other than that, I (4) _____ (have) a great time ever since I arrived.
The people I am staying with are very nice and I (5) _______ (already/show) all the local tourist sites. I (6) ______ (treat) exactly like one of the family and I (7) ______ (introduce) to all their friends. I share a room with Penny, the daughter in the family, who is my age. It’s amazing … every morning we (8) _______(wake up) by her mother with a cup of tea! Yesterday (Sunday), we (9) ________ (even/give) breakfast in bed!
Today was my first day at my new language school. When I arrived, I (10) _______ (take) to a special room where we (11) ______ (welcome) by the Director. He (12) ______ (explain) what was going to happen and who all the staff were. Then we (13) ______ (go) to a large room where we (14) ______ (give) a test to do. It was quite difficult, but it was soon over and then we (15) _____ (have) at interview with a teacher who (16) ____(check) our spoken English. As we (17) ______ (leave) we (18) ______ (hand) a form to fill in with all our personal details and we (19) ______ (tell) to arrive early tomorrow to give us time to find our new classes. In the afternoon we (20) ____ (take) on a guided tour of the city by bus which was very interesting.
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow when we (21) _____ (put) in our new classes.
I don’t know yet what level I’ll be in apparently we (22) ___ (tell) when we arrive tomorrow. At the same time we (23) ______ (give) the various books that we need for the course. It’s all quite exciting! I just hope I like my teacher!
Love, Rosario
Упражнение 7. Заполните пропуски, используя следующие слова: Jury, prosecutor, arrested, prison, convicted, evidence, trial, sentenced, gang, bars, charged with
When Tina Bowles was 1) _______ by the police and 2) _______ burglary it came as a shock to the entire neighbourhood. Tina Bowles was a well-respected woman in her early forties. At the 3) _______ the 4) _______ presented an amazing amount of 5) _______ which convinced everyone of her guilt. It was proved that she was a member of a 6) ________ which had broken into the homes of many wealthy people and stolen their valuables. It did not take long for the 7) _______ to come to a decision and Tina was 8) ________ and 9) ________ to ten years in 10) _______ . Tina Bowles is now behind 11) _______ along with the other members of the gang. She hopes to be released soon, as this was her first offence.
Упражнение 8. Зачеркните ненужные слова там, где это необходимо.
1. If you are worried about burglary, which in 1996
2. cost insurance companies the millions of pounds in
3. compensation, there is a good news for you.
4. A traditional security system, with specially built
5. security doors and detectors at each one door and
6. window, is very expensive to install. Technology,
7. though, will soon make the “intelligent home” as possible,
8. and the whole system it will be included in the price
9. of the house. New homes will have be built with a
10. special electronic system which will connect up
11. lights, heating, security and anything else the owner
12. chooses. This means lights can to be programmed
13. to turn on and off automatically at set times, making
14. it seem as if someone is at the home even when
15. everyone is out. Curtains can also be opened and
16. closed by the computer, and all of intruders can be
17. recorded by video camera, making it possible to
18. protect yourself and your belongings easily.
Упражнение 9. Прочитайте рассказ и выберите правильный вариант.
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