Illegal conduct obscenity

declare void for vagueness

contravene evaluate delegate power graft

be subject to inciting to violence arson forgery

bad check offences

robbery

assault

standpoint of a person provisions of the law disorderly conduct weapons and explosives control

discretion coercion inherent inherent powers burglary

racketeering

nullify

robbery

disseminating matter harmful to juveniles

drug trafficking

nullify

assault

complicity

contravene

aggravated felony

обставин

фальшивий виклик (поліції тощо) false alarm

фелонія felony

хабар graft

хабарництво bribery

чинення опору під час затримання resisting arrest

шантаж extortion

шахрайство fraud

2. Work in pairs. What do you know about infraction in the criminal code of the USA? What kind of offences can municipal ordinances define? Read the text and fill in the table below.

In addition to offences defined in state law, there are many offences defined in municipal ordinances. A violation of a rule or local ordinance or regulation, promise or obligation is generally known as infraction. Infraction in legal sense is a summary offence, or "petty" violation of the law less serious than a misdemeanor and usually does not attach certain individual rights such as a jury trial. It is sometimes called a minor offense, minor violation, petty offense and sometimes used as synonymous with violation, regulatory offence, welfare offense, or contravention. The power to cite persons for infractions is usually left with administrative officials; it is often not necessary to hold a court hearing - in which case a citation is the same as a conviction. In the United States, the key characteristic of an infraction is that the punishment seldom includes any amount of incarceration in a prison or jail or any other loss of civil rights - typically the only punishment is a fine, although sometimes other regulatory actions are possible (e.g. revocation of a license or permit) or an order to remedy or mitigate the situation. Examples of infractions include jaywalking, littering, violations of municipal codes (such as building or housing), disturbing the peace, or falsification of information. In many jurisdictions today, minor traffic violations have been decriminalized and classified as infractions. Nowadays, many jurisdictions allow first time offenses for minor misdemeanors including trespassing, petty theft, disorderly conduct, and marijuana possession to be reduced to infractions, or municipal ordinance violations, allowing the defendant to avoid having a criminal record which would otherwise jeopardize his long term prospects. This is particularly true if the defendant received only a citation instead of being arrested. However, by allowing a first time misdemeanor offense to be reduced to an infraction, this could also serve as an aggravating factor if the person were to be caught committing another crime. And most likely will result in jail or prison time.

Infraction is

Synonyms of‘infraction’ are:

The main characteristic of infraction is

Typical punishment for infraction is

Examples of infractions are:

First time offences may be reduced to , allowing the defendants

This is true if

The aggravating factor is

3. Work in pairs. Explain the following words and word combinations from the text.

Municipal ordinance, regulation, obligation, infraction, attach rights, welfare offence, contravention, regulatory offense, cite persons for infractions, revocation of a license, remedy or mitigate a situation, jaywalking, trespassing, a criminal record, jeopardize, term prospects, serve as aggravating factor.

4. Work in pairs. Using the table you have filled in in exercise 1, tell your partner everything you know about ‘infraction’.

5. 

   Listen to the text on white collar crimes and fill in the gaps in the sentences below.

There is one group of offences that stands out in the classification of

1. in the USA. These are white collar crimes. Generally, white

2. crimes are defined as non-violent acts (3) by

individuals or businesses in the course of daily working activity. But the

Federal Bureau of Investigation has (4) the narrow

approach, defining white-collar crime as (5) acts

which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and

which are not dependent upon the (6) or threat of physical

force or violence". Mostly non-violent in nature, (7) collar

(8) cover a wide spectrum of transactions that may

involve antitrust violations, computer frauds, credit card misuse, bankruptcy

(9), healthcare benefits, violations of environmental (10), insurance

payments, tax evasion, financial misappropriations, insider trading in stocks and shares, bribery,

(11) counterfeiting, embezzlement of funds, thefts of trade (12),

false advertising and other types of fraud. They are generally used to obtain money,

(13) or services to gain advantage in (14) or in ones personal life.

While the true extent and cost of white-collar (15) are unknown, it is estimated to

cost the United States more than $300 billion annually, according to the FBI. These crimes are

considered to be (16) offenses and even though state and local law enforcement

may be involved in the (17), charges will most often be (18) by federal

agencies such as the FBI, IRS, US Customs, Secret Service and some others. Tracking down

white collar (19) and those who (20) them is always considered a

tough proposition because the pattern of such crimes is truly complicated that brings into play a

series of (21), many of which are also crimes that stem from the drug

(22) (for example, money laundering) and crimes that arise from

23. necessity. Penalties for white collar offenses generally include fines, house

24. , community confinement and sometimes (25).