Text 3. Classification of Offences

I. Read and translate the text.

Offences can be classified into crimes and violations. A crime may be either a felony, or a misdemeanor.

A felony is a serious crime (murder, rape, treason, etc.). Felonies are punished by death or long-term imprisonment.

A misdemeanor is a less serious crime (battery, shoplifting, larceny of small sums, etc.). Misdemeanors are punished by less severe penalties, such as short-term imprisonment or a conditional sentence.

Violations are not crimes; they are punishable offences (parking in the wrong place, speeding, drunkenness in public places, etc.). Violations are not so dangerous to society as felonies and misdemeanors.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What 2 categories can offences be classified into?

2. What is a felony?

3. What is a misdemeanor?

4. What are violations?

Text 4. A Crime and a Tort

I. Read and translate the text.

A crime is an act defined and punishable by law. No law is valid ex post facto. There is a distinction between a crime and a tort. A crime is an injury to society and a tort is an injury to an individual. If a person commits a crime, it is the state that brings him into court. If an individual wrongs another individual, it is his adversary that brings him into court.

An offence may be both a crime and a tort.

II. Questions to be answered

1. How is crime defined by law?

2. What is the distinction between a crime and a tort?

3. Who brings an offender into court in case of a crime and in case of a tort?

Text 5. Homicide

I. Read and translate the following text.

Homicide is the killing of one human being by another. There are 3 categories of homicide: criminal homicide, negligent homicide and justifiable homicide.

Criminal homicide may be either murder or manslaughter. Murder is a deliberate killing of one human being by another. Murder may be in the first degree and in the second degree.

Murder in the first degree is called a felony murder. A felony murder is committed during a serious crime (an act of terrorism, rape, robbery, arson).

Murder in the second degree is committed in a rage.

Manslaughter is the killing of a human being without malice.

Negligent homicide is a killing resulting from negligence, e.g. automobile negligence.

Justifiable homicide is a killing that can be justified, e.g. the killing of an enemy in the war or of a criminal trying to escape.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What is the definition of homicide?

2. What are the 3 categories of homicide?

3. What are the 2 kinds of murder?

4. How does manslaughter differ from murder?

5. What does negligent homicide result from?

6. What is the characteristic feature of a justifiable homicide?

 

Text 6. Larceny

I. Read and translate the following text.

Larceny is another name for theft. It may be a felony and a misdemeanor. If the stolen property is valuable, it is a felony. If it is not valuable, it is a misdemeanor.

Property may be abandoned and lost. If you take abandoned property, it is not larceny, but if you take lost property, it is considered to be a case of larceny.

There is a distinction between grand larceny and petty larceny. Grand larceny is felonious larceny. Larceny which is a misdemeanor is called petty larceny.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What is larceny?

2. In what cases is larceny defined as a felony or a misdemeanor?

3. How is taking abandoned or lost property defined in terms of larceny?

4. What is the distinction between grand larceny and petty larceny?

Text 7. Capital Punishment

I. Read and translate the text.

Capital punishment is a legal killing of the criminal who is sentenced to death. It is a punishment for grave offences, such as murder, rape, treason and others. Criminals are put to death through shooting, hanging, poisoning and other means of execution. Some people support capital punishment, others are against it. Those who are against capital punishment say that it is not more effective than life imprisonment. They also say that suspension of capital punishment does not affect the crime rate. One more argument of the opponents of capital punishment is that sometimes people are sentenced and killed wrongly. For example, innocent people are tried and sentenced to death for the crimes committed by serial murderers. People who are accused wrongly are often executed before the real murderers are found. Yet, the number of the defendants of capital punishment is growing. They believe that capital punishment can prevent a murderer from committing a crime. Crime is on the rise in large cities, and people are in need of effective means of crime prevention. So, debates about capital punishment are still going on.

In England, capital punishment was abolished in the XX century. In Russia, it was suspended in 1993. There is no capital punishment in Europe, but it is practiced in most states of America. The death penalty was suspended in the USA in 1972, but it was resumed in 1976. Less than a half of the countries in the world practice capital punishment. Yet, only 30% of the population lives in countries free of capital punishment. The death penalty is used mainly in Asian and Eastern countries. The leaders are China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, but the USA is also among the first 5 countries of the world as to the annual number of executions. Two thirds of all American death sentences are executed in the state of Texas.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What is capital punishment?

2. What offences is capital punishment imposed for?

3. What is the attitude of people to capital punishment?

4. What are the arguments of the supporters of capital punishment?

5. What are the arguments of the opponents?

6. Why do many people living in large cities support capital punishment?

7. What is the attitude to capital punishment in different countries of the world?