Answer the questions

1.What is the highest court in the judicial system of the US?

2. Where does it work?

3. What is the motto of the US judiciary system?

4. How many justices work in the Supreme Court?

5. Who appoints and approves them?

6. What rights does the Supreme Court possess?

7. Who has the right to veto the Bill?

8. Into how many judicial circuits is America divided?

9. How many courts of Appeal function in the USA?

10. How many judges work in the Courts of Appeal?

11. Name the two parts of the US judiciary system ( state and federal).

12.Name the lowest court in the federal judiciary system ( district court).

13. What cases are tried there?

14. Where can cases be appealed after the trial and sentencing in district courts?

15. What determine jurisdiction of particular courts? (national and state constitutions and laws).

16. Does the state courts system look like the federal one?

17. What are the lowest courts in the state judicial system? ( magistrates or police courts).

Билет 11.

Elections in the usa

The US Constitution includes some general provisions on the franchise. It sets forth certain requirements for candidates running for a post of a president, vice-president, senator or member of the House of Representatives. Requirements usually concern age, residence and citizenship. The candidates who meet all these requirements are considered eligible for office.

A residence qualification requires a permanent residence of an individual in order to get the right to vote. The duration of the residence qualification is, in general, a few months though it may substantially vary from state to state.

Besides, some states have the so-called literacy qualification (the vote should be able to read and speak English, he (she) must know how to interpret the US Constitution, etc.).

And at last it should be mentioned that in some states a poll tax is levied upon everyone who votes and this certainly discourages poor citizens and Negroes from voting. In this context, it is not surprising that not all the Americans participate in elections, including congressional or presidential elections.

The voters are registered by clerks of counties or towns and by local election commissions. When registering, the voter must produce an identification card. This is done to prevent fraud. The administration of elections is vested in an election commission which ordinarily is composed of two commissioners, one representing each of the major parties, and a third – usually a sheriff, a county judge, or a clerk. Prior to holding primary or general election, the commission appoints election officers for each precinct and also arranges for polling places. After the ballots have been cast, they are counted and the results obtained are tabulated and returned to the election commission where they are officially counted.

Билет 12.

Crime and Punishment.

No one knows why crime occurs. The oldest theory is that criminals are persons who deliberately commit crimes or do so under the influence of evil spirits. Since the 18^th century, various scientific theories have been advanced to explain crime. A biological one was developed in the 19^th century by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso, who asserted that crimes were committed by persons who are born with certain recognizable hereditary traits. Another approach to an explanation of crime was initiated by the French political philosopher Montesquieu, who attempted to relate criminal behaviour to natural, or physical environment.

Many prominent criminologists of the 19^th century, particularly those associated with the Socialist movement, attributed crime mainly to the influence of povetry. Some theorists relate the incidence of crime to the general state of a culture, especially the impact of economic crises and the general sense of unsecurity. As a society becomes more unsettled and its people more restless and fearful of the future, the crime rate tends to rise.

The final major group of theories are psychological and psychiatric. Some studies of criminals have thrown light on the kinds of emotional disturbances that may lead to criminal behaviour. Psychotic and neurotic unstability do not automatically make people criminals, but do, it is believed, make them more prone to criminality.

Since the mid -20^th century, the notion that crime can be explained by any single theory has fallen into disfavour among investigators. Instead, experts incline to so-called multiple factor theory. They reason that crime springs from a multiplicity of conflicting and converging influences –biological, cultural, psychological and political.

Punishment describes the imposition by some authority of a deprivation–usually painful - on a person who has violated a law or other norm. Informally, any organized group –most typically the family, may punish perceived wrongdoers. Because punishment is both painful and guilt producing, its application calls for a justification. In Western culture, four basic justifications have been given: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation.

Mosr penal historians note a gradual trend over the last centuries toward more lenient sentences in Western countries. Capital and corporal punishment, widespread in the early 19^th century, are seldom invoked by contemporary society. Criminal sentences ordinarily embrace four basic modes of punishment. In descending order of severity these are: incarceration, community supervision, fine and restitution.

New words: to assert –утверждать a notion –понятие

converging –схождение

Answer the questions:

1. What ideas were the earliest criminological theories based on?

2. How did the biological theory develop?

3. What was Montesquieu`s approach to causes of crimes?

4. What views on crime predominated in the 19^th century?

5. How did criminological theories develop in the 20^th century?

6. What is the relationship between the mental and emotional state of a person and his or her inclinations to crime?

7. What are the latest views on the causes of crime?

Билет 13.