III(2)_Unit_6_Crime&Punishment_ST

1.Murder

2.Manslaughter

3.Vandalism

4.Fraud

5.Littering

6.Slander

7.Kidnapping

8.Libel

9.Robbery

10.Shoplifting

11.Juvenile delinquency

12.Assault

13.Domesticviolence

14.Illegal gambling

a.publicly lying about smb.

b.gaining money through dishonest means.

c.destruction ofpublic property

d.is a Federalcrime if done as a business

e.violent physicalor verbal attack

f.violence or physical abuse directed toward your spouse or domestic partner

g.antisocialor criminalbehavior by children or adolescents

h.stealing merchandise from a store that is open for business.

i.holding smb. againsttheir willin order togain smth.

j.the act of entering a building or other premises with the intent to commit theft

k.leaving rubbish in a public place

l.unintentionally causing smb’s death

m.planning and causing the death of smb.

n.publishing lies about smb

1)The two boys were found guilty of

a.criminal damage.

b.arson.

c.theft.

2)The two boys weresentenced to

a.short-term imprisonment.

b.a substantial fine.

c.community work.

3)The Pakistanis were sentenced for

a.taking drugs.

b.dealing in drugs.

c.selling drugs to foreigners.

4)The Saudi Arabian authorities

a.warn foreigners against visiting the country.

b.sentence all drug related crimes very severely.

c.regard drug-trafficking as an extremely serious crime.

5)This news item reports on

a.how a woman killed a man.

b.how a man punched a woman to death.

c.a drunken man's violent behaviour.

6)The woman

a.had been drinking with the man.

b.disliked the man's friends.

c.thought the man was rude to her.

7)The woman chargedat the school was

a.a secretary.

b.a mother.

c.a teacher.

8)The woman became violent

a.after she was rejected by the headmistress.

b.when she was sent a form to update.

c.because she wasn't seen immediately.

9)Michael Bassani

a.drove into a phone box.

b.stole a car while drunk.

c.attacked a criminal.

10)The court

a.prevented him from driving.

b.accused him of hurting people.

c.gave him a severe warning.

Capital punishment has been used throughout history, although its methods and the crimes for which it is used havechanged over the centuries.

When Parliament in any country debates capital punishment, each side will accuse the other of dishonesty, and each side will be right. It is human nature - sophisticated, educated human nature - to deny the emotionaloriginof ourbeliefs, topresent them inempirical terms rather than admit that we rationalize what we first instinctively believe.

Nowadays not only are the methods different but more importantly not everyone agrees that capital punishment should be used. It is more honest to admit that we are either hangers or abolitionists by nature. People are divided into two distinct groups; those for and those against. This is because this issue is black and white; there is no grey area. In the USA, 85% of the population over the age of 21 approve of the death penalty. In the many states which still have the death penalty, some use the electric chair, which can take up to 20 minutes to kill, while others usegas orlethalinjections.

By contrast, in Britain, public opinion started to turn against the use of capital punishment after the Second World War. A number of well-publicised cases in the fifties, twoinparticular, helped tobring about this swing. Thefirst of these was the case of Ruth Ellis, who was hanged for shooting her lover in what was generally regarded as a crime of passion. The second was the posthumous pardon of Timothy Evans, hanged for murders which, it was later proved, hadbeencommittedby someoneelse.

However, despite this change of opinion, the death penalty was not actually abolished in Britain until 1965. And even now there are many people both inside and outside Parliament who would like it to be reintroduced.

bySimonHaines

There have been 14 attempts to bring back hanging since its abolition.

The pro-hanging lobby uses four main arguments to support its call for the reintroduction of capital punishment. First there is the deterrence theory, which argues that potential murderers would think twice before committing the act if they knew that they might die if they were caught. The armed bank robber might, likewise, go back tobeing unarmed.

The next argument in favour of bringing back capital punishment concerns public security. If the death penalty were reinstated, it would mean that a convicted murderer could not be set free after serving 20 years or less of a life sentence and be able to go on to murder again. Consequently, thegeneralpublic wouldbesafer.

The other two arguments are more challenging. The idea of retribution demands that criminals should get what they deserve: if a murdererintentionally sets out tocommit a crime, he should accept the consequences. Retribution, which is just another word for revenge, is supported by the religious doctrine of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The fourth and last main pro-hanging argument is the most cold-blooded. It is that it makes economic sense to hang convicted murderers rather than keep them in prison wasting taxpayers' money.

The hangers are shifty about their motives. Retribution is out of fashion, and so they stress the level of murder since abolition. In fact, retribution is more respectable than either side may realise, perhaps more respectable than deterrence as a justification for punishment, certainly more so than rehabilitation (not that that comes much into the hanging debate).

The arguments against the death penalty are largely

deterrent effect. There are also statistical reasons for proving it: the deterrence figures do not add up. In Britain, 1903 was the record year for executions and yet in 1904 the number of homicides actually rose. There was a similar occurrence in 1946 and 1947. If the deterrence theory werecorrect, therateshouldhavefallen.

The second main argument against reintroducing capital punishment is that innocent people are sometimes wrongly convicted, and while people can be released from prison, they cannot be brought back from the dead if they havebeenhanged.

Critics of capital punishment argue that the expense involving executions is substantially greater than the cost of life imprisonment. The costs of appeals and legal

counseling are the principal expenses. Thus, the extra financial burden of capital punishment contributes to a greaterbalanceof unhappiness versus happiness.

The other reasons to oppose the death penalty are largely a matter of individual conscience and belief. One is that murder is murder and that the state has no more right to take a life than the individual. The other is that Christianity preaches forgiveness, not revenge.

It can be argued that the purpose of punishment is not to reform someone - which grossly interferes with his personal autonomy - but rather to punish, to uphold and objectify the law, to reward those who obey the law while chastising thosewhobreak it.