IV. The judicial system of the U. S. A.

1. Read and translate the text:

In the United States of America there is a dual court system composed of a federal judiciary and 50 states judiciaries. The federal judiciary consists of the Supreme Court and the system of federal courts.

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial organ of the U.S.A. it meets in the Supreme Court Building of white marble in Washington, D.C. the Supreme Court is made up of the Chief Justice and eight associate justices.

They are all appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. Every judge is appointed for life, or until he chooses to resign. One of the most important duties of the justices is to decide whether laws passed by the Congress agree with the Constitution.

By creating the Supreme Court and authorizing the establishment of the Federal courts, the Constitution created the judicial power that is the power to hear and decide the two classes of cases – criminal and civil. The jurisdiction of the Federal Courts may include cases which concern the interpretation of the Constitution, of treaties between the U.S. and foreign countries. All cases involving a violation of Federal criminal laws are heard in the Federal court. They include cases relating to internal security, immigration, etc.

Immediately below the Supreme Court stand the Courts of Appeals, created in 1891 to facilitate the disposition of cases. With few exceptions, cases decided in the district courts go next to the appeals courts. 94 district courts are located in the states. Most cases and controversies start in district courts. Here nearly all accused of committing federal crimes are tried.

The Court of Claims consisting of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices was established in 1855. This court hears claims of private individuals against the government for breach of contracts, unpaid salary, property taken for public use and personal injuries. To adjudicate controversies arising within custom houses, the custom court was established in 1890.

 

Vocabulary:

Judiciary	суд
The Custom Court	Таможенный Суд
The Federal Court	Федеральный Суд
The Court of Appeals	Аппеляционный Суд
The Court of Claims	Претенциозный Суд
criminal; civil case	уголовное; гражданское дело

 

1. Give the English equivalents for the following words and word combinations:

- судебная система;

- высший судебный орган;

- судья;

- уходить в отставку;

- нарушение;

- внутренняя безопасность;

- судебное дело;

- спор;

- обвиняемый.

 

2. Match each word on the left with the definition on the right:

1) court	a) an official request for money that you think you have a right to
2) judge	b) a legal matter or question that must be decided in a court of law
3) case	c) the people who make a legal judgement, for example, about whether someone is guilty of a crime, or the place where these judgements are made
4) appeal	d) the official in control of a court who decides how criminals should be punished
5) claim	e) making an urgent public request for money, help, information

3. Answer the following questions:

1. What kind of court system is there in the United States of America?

2. What is the federal judiciary made up?

3. What is the highest judicial branch in the U.S.A.?

4. Where does it meet?

5. What are the members of the Supreme Court?

6. Are they elected?

7. What is the main duty of the Supreme Court?

8. What are the functions of Federal courts?

 

4. Speak on:

1. The judicial system of your country.

UNIT II

I. US CONSTITUTION I

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." — Preamble to the Constitution.

1. Read and translate the text:

The form of the US government is based on the Constitution of 1787 which was adopted after the War of Independence. A constitution is a set of customs, traditions, rules and laws that sets forth the basic way a government is organized and functions. According to this definition of the word, every nation has a constitution but in some countries constitutions are very easily violated because the basic rights of their citizens are violated.

It is very important to understand that having a constitution does not mean that a nation has a constitutional government. If a constitution makes it possible to concentrate power by one or few, it is not the basis of a constitutional government. If a constitution says that the government’s power should be limited but doesn’t mention the ways how to do it, it is not the basis for a constitutional government.

In a constitutional government the constitution is a form of higher law that must be obeyed by everyone including those in power.

The US Constitution consists of 7 articles and 26 amendments.

According to the Founders of the American state a constitution or higher law should have the following characteristics:

- It sets forth the basic rights of citizens to life, liberty and property

- It establishes the responsibility of the government to protect those rights

- It establishes limitations on how those in government may use their powers with regard to

- citizens’ rights and responsibilities

- the distribution of resources

- the control of conflict

- It establishes the principle of a private domain – which means that there are areas of citizens’ lives that are no business of the government and in which the government cannot interfere.

- It can be changed with the consent of the most citizens. This is how the Constitution differs from the ordinary law that the governments regularly create and enforce. The US Constitution has 26 amendments, the first 10 are called the Bill of Rights and it was adopted in 1791. The bill enumerated basic freedoms and guaranteed them and declared what the government was not allowed to do.

 

 

Notes to the text:

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”- Preamble to the Constitution – “ Мы, народ Соединенных Штатов, в целях образования более совершенного Союза, утверждения правосудия, обеспечения внутреннего спокойствия, организации совместной обороны, содействия общему благосостоянию и обеспечения нам и нашему потомству благ свободы, учреждаем и принимаем эту Конституцию для Соединенных Штатов Америки. ”- Преамбула к Конституции.

 

Vocabulary:

a set- свод

basic freedoms, rights- основные свободы, права

to obey- повиноваться, выполнять

to set forth- излагать

private domain- личная свобода

distribution of resources- распределение ресурсов

 

2. Give the Russian words with the same stem:

base; constitution; tradition; to form; principle; to guarantee; to concentrate; nation; to control.

 

3. Find the English equivalents for:

- справедливость;

- спокойствие;

- благосостояние;

- благо; благодеяние;

- потомство; потомки;

- свод законов, правил, традиций;

- принять конституцию;

- поправка к Конституции;

- нарушать закон;

- согласие большинства;

- вмешиваться;

- перечислять;

- выполнять, исполнять закон.

 

4. Express your agreement or disagreement with each statement using: I quite /completely agree, I can’t agree, I think it is not so, it’s wrong, on the contrary.

1. The American Constitution was adopted after the Warof Independence and it remains unchanged so far.

2. The US Constitution consists of 10 articles and 50 amendments.

3. The US Constitution guarantees freedom of those in power.

 

5. Write these sentences in the Passive Voice form and translate them into Russian:

1. The USA adopted the Constitution in 1787.

2. The Constitution provides the set of rules, laws and regulations to regulate the work of the government.

3. Some historians regard the Constitution as a conservative document.

4. In some countries the oligarchy can control the government.

 

6. Read the text without a dictionary and try to catch the main idea:

The Amendment Process

We have a living Constitution. Men wrote it in 1787, and we still use it today. These men were intelligent. “The U.S will change in the future “they thought. “We must find the way to let the Constitution change too.” And they did.

They put in the amendment process. This process is important. Amendments can change the part of an article in the Constitution or another amendment.

Two/thirds (2/3) of the Congress or of the state legislature must agree on an idea for an amendment. If three-fourth (3/4) of the states ratifies the amendment, it becomes a part of the Constitution.

 

7. Answer the questions:

1. What does a “constitution” mean in American political language?

2. What is the aim of the US Constitution?

3. What does it consist of?

4. What is the Bill of Rights?

5. What do you think about the peculiarities of the US Constitution?

 

8. Read and translate the text:

US CONSTITUTION II

The former colonies, now “the United States of America”, first operated under the agreement called the Articles of Confederation (1781). It was soon clear that this loose agreement among the states was not working well. The central, federal government was too weak, with too few powers for defence, trade and taxation. In 1787, therefore, delegates from the states met in Philadelphia. They wanted to revise the Articles, but they did much more than that. They wrote a completely new document, the Constitution, which after much argument, debate, and compromise was finished in the same year and officially adopted by the thirteen states by 1790.

The Constitution, the oldest still in force in the world, sets the basic form of government: three separate branches, each one having powers (“checks and balances”) over the others. It specifies the powers and duties of each federal branch of government, with all other powers and duties belonging to the states. The Constitution has been repeatedly amended to meet the changing needs of the nation, but is still the “supreme law of the land”. All governments and governmental groups, federal, state, and local must operate within its guidelines. The ultimate power under the Constitution is not given to the President (the executive branch), or to the Supreme Court (the judicial branch). Nor does it rest, as in many other countries, with a political group or party. It belongs to “We the People, in fact and in spirit”.

They stated in the first ten Constitutional Amendments, known together as the Bill of Rights, what they considered to be the fundamental rights of any American. Among these rights are the freedoms of religion, speech, and the press, the right of peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs. Other rights guarded the citizens against unreasonable searches, arrests, and seizures of property, and established a system of justice guaranteeing orderly legal procedures. This included the right of trial by jury that is, being judged by fellow citizens.

The federal and state governments formed under the Constitution were designed to serve the people and to carry out their majority wishes (and not the other way around). One thing they do not want their government to do is to rule them. Americans expect their government to serve them and tend to think of politicians and governmental officials as their servants. This attitude remains very strong among Americans today.

Over the past two centuries, the Constitution has also had considerable influence outside the United States. Several other nations have based their own forms of government on it. It is interesting to note that Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution, drafted the French declaration of rights when he returned to France. And the United Nations Charter also has clear echoes of what once was considered a revolutionary document.

Vocabulary:

an agreement- соглашение

loose agreement- свободное соглашение

taxation- налогообложение

freedom of religion; speech; press- свобода вероисповеданий; слова; печати

unreasonable search; arrest- необоснованный обыск; арест

strong attitude- жесткая позиция

United Nations Charter- Устав ООН (Организации Объединенных Наций)

ultimate power- необоснованно большая власть

 

9. Complete the following text with the words and phrases using them in the appropriate form (you may use the text above):

jury; branch; Bill of Rights; to adopt; religion; to guard; power; Congress; to divide; amendments; to assemble; citizens; President; arrests; executive; rights; seizures; document; speech; legislature; freedoms; judiciary; founding fathers; system of.

 

When the Constitution was written in 1787, there were only 13 states. Because the a) ____ of the Constitution saw that the future might bring a need for changes, they b) ____ a method of adding c) ____. Over the years 26 amendments have been added, but the basic d) ____ has not been written. The pattern of government planned so long ago for 13 states today meets the needs of 50 states.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, called the e) ____ assure individual f) ____ and g) ____. Added in 1791, they include provisions for freedom of the h) ____ and of i) ____; the right of citizens to j) ____ peacefully; the right to be k) ____ in one’s own home against unreasonable l) ____ and m) ____ of person or property; the right of any person charged with n) ____ the law to have a speedy trial by a o) ____ of fellow p) ____.

The Constitution q) ____ the powers of the government into three branches: the r) ____ headed by the s) ____; the t) ____, which includes both houses of u) ____ (the Senate and the House of Representatives) and the v) ____ which is headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution limits the role of each w) ____ to prevent any one branch from gaining undue x) ____.

 

10. Find the English equivalents for:

- пересмотреть документ;

- действовать в соответствии с соглашением;

- управлять своими собственными делами;

- принять конституцию;

- определить чьи-либо полномочия и обязанности;

- действовать в рамках конституции;

- получить необоснованно большую власть;

- свобода собраний;

-захват собственности;

- удовлетворять требованиям;

- суд присяжных заседателей;

- влияние;

- отголосок.

 

11. Speak on:

1. The Constitution of your country.

 

 

II. THE BILL OF RIGHTS

1. Read and translate the text:

On December 1791, the Congress put in the amendment process and adopted 10 amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. Amendments can change or add rights and restrictions to the Constitution.

Amendment 1. Freedom of Religion, Speech, the Press and Assembly

We can follow any religion: we can say our thoughts, write articles in newspapers, meet in groups.

Amendment 2. The Right to Have Guns

We can have guns for protection. State governments make laws about buying and keeping guns.

Amendment 3. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

 

 

Amendment 4. Searchers and Warrants

Police need a court order (search warrant, issued by a judge) to make any search or any arrest.

Amendment 5. Rights of People Accused of a Crime, and Protection of Private Property.

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.

No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.

Amendment 6. Right to a Fair Trial and Witness.

If you are accused of a crime, you have the right to know why. You have the right to a speedy and public trial with a jury. You have the trial in the state where the crime happened. You can have the private lawyer or the court will give you a lawyer.

Amendment 7. Assures trial by jury in civil cases.

Amendment 8. Bails, Fines and Punishment

A judge cannot make you pay an unfair bail or an unfair fine. A judge or jury or the police cannot give you unfair punishment.

Amendment 9. The People Keep Some Right

The Constitution lists many rights of the people, but it doesn’t list all the rights. The People have other rights, too.

Amendment 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Amendments 11-26

Amendment 11. Citizens of one state or a foreign country cannot bring a case against another state in a federal court.

Amendment 12. We elect the President and Vice-President separately.

Amendment 13. There is no more slavery in the U.S.

Amendment 14. All people born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens.

Amendment 15. Black people have the right to vote.

Amendment 16. Congress can make a law for an income tax.

Amendment 17. We elect Senators directly with our votes.

Amendment 18. Prohibition of intoxicating liquors.

Amendment 19. Women have the right to vote.