Vocabulary notes. Task 3.Read the text again and make sure you know all underlined parts of the text

to swamp	заваливать (заявлениями)
fine print	мелкий шрифт
adept	сведующий
to charge	взымать (о суммах)
to moonlight	работать на стороне, подрабатывать

Task 3. Read the text again and make sure you know all underlined parts of the text. Give their Russian equivalents

Task 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the reason for the swamping of the legal system?

2. What do many new laws result in?

3. Why are lawyers more adept at taking dis­putes to court?

4. Why do the big law firms offer high starting salaries?

5. In what cases do lawyers really get overpaid?

6. What lawyers have no reason to economize?

Task 5. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Agreement or disagreement should be followed by some comment

1. The output in last year's session of Congress included more than 600 statutes.

2. There is more and more to sue about.

3. There is less and less law business every year.

4. Americans have some 700,000 lawyers for a population of 240 million.

5. The United States has just ten percent of the population.

6. Law always has been a prosperous profession, but the situation is under control.

7. The Congress set a strict ceiling on the rates that could be charged.

8. The fees were moderate and a poor client could pay a lawyer.

9. A Harvard law professor tried to collect more than $300,000 for helping a poor client.

10. Courts allow huge awards because they don’t care.

Task 6. Ask questions to which the following statements are the answers:

1. Journalists often rate a Congress by how many new laws it turns out.

2. Federal regulations also generate lawsuits.

3. There are 30 state legislatures in the USA.

4. Most of the lawyers in the world now live in the United States.

5. There is little satisfaction in placing No. 2 in a lawsuit.

6. To encourage lawyers to represent penniless individuals who have been victims of discrimination.

7. Such awards can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

8. Either taxpayers or consumers pay the large amounts.

Task 7. Explain in English what the words and word combinations mean. Use them in your own sentences

Over-lawyered, lawsuits, statutes, to generate, state legislatures, to resolve disputes, a prosperous profession, to get out of balance, to get overpaid, to pick up the bill, losing defendants, to set no ceiling on, top partners, to economize

Task 8. Practice the speech patterns given below. Make up two sentences of your own on each pattern

1. Lawyers who can benefit from limitless attorney-fee statutes have no reason to economize — the more hours they spend litigating, the more money they collect. I know that the longer I sat, the meaner I grew.

2. We have some 700,000 lawyers for a population of 240 million. A judge can handle some hundred cases monthly. My guess is she is some twenty years old.

3. To encourage lawyers to represent penniless individuals who have been victims of discrimination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Attorneys Fees Awards Act in 1976. To help this process along, Congress and the courts must set some limits on their will­ingness to subsidize litigation.

It's hard to believe that the restaurant would have been willing to pay that much out of its own pocket. In any case I do not believe that rapists are that calmor that rational.

5. Courts allow huge awards because they operate one case at a time and seldom consider who is really pay­ing the large amounts they distrib­ute.

Task 9. Make the summary of the text. Use the key words and word combinations

Text 3

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. What is a judge’s work?

2. Why do people prefer their case to be tried by jury?

3. What human dis­agreements can be solved in courts?

Task 2. Read the text to get the main idea paying special attention to the underlined parts of the text (key words and word combinations

Overweight. It used to be, as Justice Louis Brandeis said, that unlike the other institutions of gov­ernment, "here we do our own work." Judges were once respected because they themselves thought through and decided their cases, and wrote opinions for all to see. Now judges have law clerks in ever-growing numbers who help with legal research and drafting opinions. Partly as a result of their large staffs, appellate judges write opinions that are much more lengthy and ponderous than those of a generation or two ago. These befuddle the law. A recent opinion by the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington contained a footnote that ran on for four pages and consumed 1700 words. This same court is responsible for opinions that have run more than 100 pages. Justice Holmes used to do a more-than-adequate job in four or five.

The volume of legal palaver was once limited by how many sheets of carbon paper would fit in the typewriter, or how much the client would pay to have the attorneys’ deathless prose printed. Now court decisions are on computers. Word processors and photocopiers make it possible to crank out more pages in the time allotted, so judges are forced to read longer briefs.

Some Solutions. Lawmakers have to set tighter limits on the disputes that courts will entertain. " Palimony " is a good example. When the law provides a perfectly clear option (marriage) for arrang­ing mutual obligations, why should courts feel free to create new ones?

Arbitration already has replaced court litigation as a way of resolvingdisputes under most major commercial contracts and labor agreements. Because the Constitu­tion guarantees the right to a jury trial, it probably is impossible to require arbitration in personal-injury matters or to leave civil dis­putes to be settled by judges rather than by juries, the way nearly all lawsuits are in England. Arbitra­tion could be required, however, to limit courtcases brought under many federal statutes, such as em­ployment discrimination and Social Security matters, just as workers’ compensation statutes took cases out of the courts earlier in this decade.

Incentives for litigation have gone too far. Punitivedamages, which hold out the hope of striking it rich, should be abolished except in truly egregious cases. Other awards should be kept in rein, especially where damage is not clearly demonstrated.

Some of the legal system's difficulties probably will be moderated over time by market forces. Com­petition is likely to inspire new systems for delivering legal services, such as group insurance programs and supermarket-style operations. Such devices may help middle-class citizens resolve disputes. More lawyers probably will become salaried, and by the end of the century, the contours of the legal profession could look decidedly different.

Meanwhile, to help this process along, Congress and the courts must set some limitson their will­ingness to subsidize litigation. If the courts are overloaded, we can pass fewer laws that authorize lawsuits and can look for alternative mechanisms to settle disputes. If there are too many lawsuits, courts can exercise tighter control over what types of human unhappiness they are willing to order payment for — and how much. If there are too many lawyers, we can stop subsidizing them with money from sources other than their clients, and let nature take its course.

Finally, as a country — and as individual citizens — we need to stop taking everything to court. If family, church, school, even bureaus of government themselves don't try harder to solve more human disagreements on their own, no number of courts and lawyers will be able to do it for them.

Vocabulary notes

to draft	составлять (проект)
ponderous	увесистый, тяжеловесный
to befuddle	сбивать с толку
footnote	сноска, примечание
palaver	пустая болтовня, треп
to crank out	зд. выдавать
to entertain	принять на рассмотрение
palimony	вид содержания, выплачиваемый одному из супругов после развода (обычно, женщине)
punitive damages	возмещение убытков по решению суда
egregious	вопиющий

Task 3. Read the text again and make sure you know all underlined parts of the text. Give their Russian equivalents

Task 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is main idea of this text?

2. Why were judges once respected?

3. Who helps judges with legal research and drafting opinions?

4. What was the volume of legal palaver once limited by?

5. What makes it impossible to require arbitration in personal-injury matters and some other cases?

6. In what cases can arbitration replace court litigation?

7. What is the role of market forces in moderating some of the legal system's difficulties?

Task 5. Read the statements. Agree or disagree with them. Agreement or disagreement should be followed by some comment

Judges were never respected.

Nobody helps judges with legal research and drafting opinions.

Appellate judges write short opinions.

The volume of legal palaver used to have some limitations.

Arbitration is a way of resolving disputes under most major commercial contracts and labor agreements.

Arbitration can replace courts in personal-injury matters.

Punitive damages should be abolished in all cases.

Only courts and lawyers are able to solve human disagreements.

Task 6. Ask questions to which the following statements are the answers:

Opinions are much more lengthy and ponderous than those of a generation or two ago.

A footnoteran on for four pages.

Judges are forced to read longer briefs.

Because the Constitu­tion guarantees the right to a jury trial.

Nearly all lawsuits are settled by judges in England.

Punitive damages hold out the hope of striking it rich.

Because the courts are overloaded.

Lawyers should be subsidized only with money from their clients.

Task 7. Explain in English what the words and word combinations mean. Use them in your own sentences

Appellate judges, to draft opinions, ponderous, legal palaver, carbon paper, palimony, arbitration, em­ployment discrimination, incentives, to strike it rich, to keep in reign, to become salaried, alternative mechanisms, to settle disputes, to entertain a dispute, to let nature take its course.

Task 8. Practice the speech patterns given below. Make up two sentences of your own on each pattern

1. Appellate judges write opinions that are much more lengthy and ponderous than those of a generation or two ago. Of course, get-tough policies raise ques­tions other than that of efficacy. His fingerprints were routinely sent to Washington, where the FBI spotted them as those of Dwight Armstrong, a second fugitive in the Wisconsin bombing. Angry constituents bombarded my office and those of other lawmakers with phone calls and letters.

2. When the law provides a perfectly clear option (marriage) for arrang­ing mutual obligations, why should courts feel free to create new ones? Why should Americans be so punitive in their attitude to criminals?

3. If there are too many lawyers, we can stop subsidizing them with money from sources other than their clients, and let nature take its course. Finally, as a country — and as individual citizens — we need to stop taking everything to court

4. If family, church, school, even bureaus of government themselves don't try harder to solve more human disagreements on their own, no number of courts and lawyers will be able to do it for them. Are you sure you can do it on your own?

5. The volume of legal palaver was once limited by how many sheets of carbon paper would fit in the typewriter, or how much the client would pay to have the attorneys’ deathless prose printed. All he wants is to have his case disposed of as soon as possible.

6.. Such devices may help middle-class citizens resolve disputes. Crime imposes huge costs on the country and has helped turn parts of American inner cities into nightmares of violence. The complainant was grateful to the lawyer for helping him win his case.

Task 9. Make the summary of the text. Use the key words and word combinations

UNIT 2 Rendering

Text 1

Task 1. Read the text. Make sure you know all the words in bold type. Render the text into English.

"Право на адвоката начинает действовать в момент, когда подозреваемый становится обвиняемым, то есть, в начале судебного процесса. Если обвиняемый не имеет средств, судья назначает ему адвоката, услуги которого оплачиваются государством. Если обвиняемый не признает себя виновным, судья должен принять решение по вопросу о его освобождении из-под стражи до суда и, в случае такого освобождения, о том, должен ли применяться залог или иные условия. Традиционно суды считают, что подсудимый должен быть освобожден, если нет опасности его побега.

Подсудимый имеет право на публичный суд. Поэтому американские суды открыты для публики, включая журналистов. Подсудимый не может отказаться от права на публичный суд, поскольку граждане тоже разделяют это право. Судья также не может запретить прессе освещать уголовные процессы. Однако это не означает, что в зал суда должны допускаться фото- и телекамеры. Некоторые штаты разрешают прямую телевизионную трансляцию с уголовных процессов. В федеральных судах, которые рассматривают преступления против государства, такие, как терроризм, камер не бывает. Обычно на процессе присутствуют художники, который зарисовывают сцены разбирательства. Подсудимым по уголовным делам гарантировано право на суд присяжных. Однако, как и от большинства прав, от права на суд присяжных можно отказаться. Обычно у подсудимых больше шансов на оправдание присяжными - от четверти до трети таких разбирательств заканчиваются оправдательными приговорами. Но некоторые подсудимые предпочитают присяжным судью, поскольку они считают, что судья скорее увидит пробелы в доводах обвинения, судья вынесет более мягкий приговор после суда без участия присяжных или что характер совершенного преступления настроит присяжных против подсудимого.

Text 2

Task 1. Read the text. Make sure you know all the words in bold type. Render the text into English.

На более широком уровне преступность можно рассматривать как разрыв в ткани общества, влияющий на качество жизни его членов. И жертвы, и преступники являются членами одного и того же общества; воспринимая эти три составляющие как единое целое, мы сможем предупредить распространение вредных последствий преступности. Сбалансированная программа примирения помогает укрепить связи между членами общества для того, чтобы предупредить дальнейший рост преступности.

Программы примирения должны поддерживать и развивать отношения с общественными организациями, предоставляющими различные услуги, а также с местной судебной властью и сотрудничать с ними, разрабатывая проекты индивидуального развития и оказания услуг. Такие связанные между собой группы могут включать церкви, местные общественные и благотворительные центры, молодежные группы, социально- реабилитационные п рограммы. Достигнув согласия с организацией, направляющей дело, оно должно быть тщательно проанализировано, чтобы проверить, подходит ли оно для примирения. Если правонарушитель признается в совершении преступления и хочет искупить свою вину, и если он не является прямой угрозой обществу, дело, как правило, можно решить при примирении. После того, как ведущий получил данное дело, он беседует отдельно и с правонарушителем, и с жертвой. Прежде всего, необходимо выяснить готовность обеих сторон участвовать в примирении, а также их отношение к этому преступлению и желание возместить убытки. На этих встречах он должен внимательно выслушать рассказ каждой стороны о происшествии. Часто будущие участники выражают нежелание принимать участие в примирении просто из-за того, что процесс является незнакомым. Они бы предпочитали не смотреть проблеме прямо в лицо. Однако если подчеркнуть преимущества примирения (без принуждения), многие, в конце концов, решают принять в нем участие. После примирения почти все участники говорят, что они рады, что решились на это.

Text 3

Task 1. Read the text. Make sure you know all the words in bold type. Render the text into English.

Судя по анекдотам, граждане США невысоко оценивают этические стандарты американской адвокатуры.
Как ни странно, и в США, жители которых без адвокатов не могут ступить и шагу, отношение к ним более чем прохладное. Наличие в их среде этических стандартов признают 17% граждан, а доверяют адвокатам меньше, чем президенту Бушу, всего 10%. Та же поразительная тенденция проявляется и в анекдотах об этой боевой профессии, которые не всегда смешны и оригинальны (часть из них явно навеяна творчеством великих юмористов), но позволяют создать образ типичного адвоката.
В анекдоте заокеанский адвокат, прежде всего, болезненно жаден, как о том свидетельствует сценка у парикмахера, любившего воздать должное представителям общественно значимых профессий. Был случай, когда, отказавшись взять деньги со священника, который, по его словам, «служит Богу», бескорыстный парикмахер на следующий день нашел у своей двери 12 библий. Да и другие слуги народа старались тайно вознаградить его каким-нибудь подарком по числу апостолов. Не так получилось с адвокатом, которого парикмахер постриг бесплатно, ссылаясь на то, что тот «служит правосудию»: на следующее же утро у его двери сидело 12 нестриженых адвокатов.
Американский адвокат жаден настолько, что любит имущество больше себя, как видно из анекдота об одном таком идолопоклоннике. Адвокат едет на новеньком БМВ и напевает: «Как я люблю свой БМВ!» Отвлекшись от управления, он врезается в дерево, разбив машину вдребезги. «О мой БМВ!» – причитает он над обломками. Проезжавший мимо добрый самаритянин намерен оказать ему первую помощь: «О, сэр, вы весь в крови! И, боже мой, где ваша рука?» «О мой ролекс!» – завопил осознавший весь ужас происходящего адвокат.
В целом адвокат в американском анекдоте выступает в виде малопривлекательной фигуры, если не разбойника с большой дороги, то глуповатой пиявки, привыкшей паразитировать за счет людских невзгод. Но в одном примере народного творчества адвокатское сообщество США предстает в более благоприятном свете: речь идет об инциденте, в рамках которого вице-президент Чейни едва не застрелил по неосторожности своего приятеля-адвоката Уиттингтона (кстати, потерпевший недавно заслужил международную премию за глупость своим письмом к причинителю вреда, в котором извиняется за доставленные неприятности). Согласно фабуле анекдота президент Буш в крайнем раздражении звонит Чейни и начинает его отчитывать за безответственность. «Не понимаю, что вас так взволновало, мистер президент, – оправдывается незадачливый снайпер, – я же все-таки не нарочно?» – «Не нарочно? Мой бог, не хватало еще, чтобы ты нарочно подстрелил единственного адвоката в США, который одобряет мою политику!»

Text 4

Task 1. Read the text. Make sure you know all the words in bold type. Render the text into English.

Америке недавно вышла книга под названием "Приколы судебнойпрактики", в которой собраны "избранные" диалоги из протоколовсудебных заседаний, имевших место в реальной жизни. Вот некоторыевыдержки из нее в примерном переводе:
1. АДВОКАТ: Назовите день вашего рождения
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: 18-е июля
АДВОКАТ: Год?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Каждый год.

АДВОКАТ: Каким образом амнезия действует на Вашу память?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Иногда я о чем-нибудь забываю
АДВОКАТ: Приведите примеры того, о чем Вы забыли.

АДВОКАТ: Сколько лет Вашему сыну?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Какому из трех?
АДВОКАТ: Двадцатилетнему
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Скоро будет двадцать один

АДВОКАТ: Сколько лет Вашей дочери?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Тридцать восемь
АДВОКАТ: И сколько лет она живет с Вами?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Сорок один
АДВОКАТ: Так что же произошло в то утро?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Мой муж проснулся и сказал: "Привет, Сьюзан"
АДВОКАТ: И что же Вас так расстроило?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Меня зовут Кэти

АДВОКАТ: У Вас сколько детей?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Двое
АДВОКАТ: Сколько мальчиков?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Ни одного
АДВОКАТ: А девочек?

АДВОКАТ: Скажите, Вы присутствовали на вечеринке в тот момент, когда
Вас там сфотографировали?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Не могли бы Вы повторить вопрос?

АДВОКАТ: Чем закончился Ваш первый брак?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Смертью супруга
АДВОКАТ: Мужа или жены?

АДВОКАТ: Доктор, когда Вы проводили вскрытие, мистер Дентон был мертв?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Нет, он сидел на операционном столе, и мы с ним весело болтали.

И все же непревзойденным авторами книги был признан следующий диалог:
АДВОКАТ: Доктор, Вы проверили его пульс до того, как начать вскрытие?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Нет.
АДВОКАТ: А Вы измерили кровяное давление?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Нет.
АДВОКАТ: Вы удостоверились в отсутствии дыхания?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Нет.
АДВОКАТ: Значит, пациент мог быть еще жив, когда Вы начали вскрытие?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Нет.
АДВОКАТ: Почему Вы так уверены в этом, доктор?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Дело в том, что его мозг мне был доставлен отдельно от тела.
АДВОКАТ: Даже, несмотря на это, Ваш пациент все же мог быть еще жив?
СВИДЕТЕЛЬ: Разумеется. И он даже мог бы работать адвокатом!

UNIT 3 Discussion Points

Task 1. Discuss the following points with your fellow students:

Reasons for too many laws, too many lawsuits and too many lawyers in America

Unpopularity of lawyers

Soundness of some decisions of judges

Precedent: for and against

Task 2. Give a short newspaper review on problems a lawyer faces in dealing with clients, presenting a case in the court and so on. Remember that your interview should appeal to the interests of the interested readers. It can be neutral, emotional, and descriptive. Prove your point of view.

Task 3. Work in pairs. Discuss any of legal problems of today. You may speak about

advantages and disadvantages of lawyers’ work

difficulties in judges’ work

difficulties in interpreting laws

punitive damages

One of the students is supposed to introduce a subject of mutual interest; the other student disagrees or agrees with his partner’s point of view.

Task 4. Speak on the topic: “I’ve chosen law as a career because…”

Task 6. Team work. Case Study: The following situations are based on real cases from the federal courts. Consider the arguments, then decide how you would rule. Compare your answers with actual case results.

Charlie took his wife, Alice, to a restaurant for their anniversary. While they were drink­ing their wine, Alice's glass broke and cut her hand. Charlie drove Alice to a hospital emergency room, where the doctor told her she had severed a tendon and would never be able to move her right index finger again. Alice and Charlie filed suit against the restaurant claiming $100,000 for permanent injury.

"Judge," said the restaurant owner, "we shouldn't have to pay a penny. We sold the wine, but we didn't sell the glass."

Would you make the restaurant pay for Alice's injury?

CHAPTER 5. The Witness: Forgotten Man

UNIT 1. Giving the summary of the text

T ext 1

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. Do you know what a witness is supposed to do?

2. How do people become witnesses?

3. Would you cooperate if you happened to witness a crime?

Task 2. Read the text to get the main idea paying special attention to the underlined parts of the text (key words and word combinations).

A few years ago, Archie Bunker saw a mugging in an "All in the Family" episode. His son-in-law urged him to be a witness when the casewent to court. Not Archie:

"Do you know what you gotta go through if you're a witness? I'm a working man; I don't get paid if I show up absent. To go to court, you gotta put on a shirt and tie, drag yourself downtown and hang around till the case comes up, which you never know when. And by the time it does, you forget what you was gonna say, and the other lawyer makes a monkey outta you!"

For once Archie has a lot of company among both liberals and conservatives. There is increasing agreement that the witness is the Forgotten man of our judicial system. In fact, things are much worse for him than even Archie, that perennial cynic, suspects.

Consider:

• On August 26, 1971, Mrs. Patricia Finck, a Philadelphia A & P supermarket cashier, was held up at gunpoint in the store where she worked. The robbers took $500. During the next 28 months, she had to go to court 45 times as a witness against two suspects. Each time, the case was delayed or continued for one reason or another. On December 12, 1973 — Mrs. Finck's 46th visit — the suspects were found guilty. "The store paid me for all the time I was in court." Mrs. Finck said, "But that means it lost much more in my time than the amount originally stolen. It was a pretty disgusting experience."

• In a New York City holdup-conspiracy case, a material witness (one whose testimony is vital) was jailed for 114 days because he was unable to post a $25,000 bond to assure his appearance at the trial. His family had to go on welfare. During all that time, the four defendantswere out on $10,000 bail each.

• A California Highway Patrol study showed that 60 percent of its officers' time in court is spent waiting to testify. In one recent year, more than 400.000 police hours were wasted in this way. (And since police time costs about $10 an hour the loss in California alone was about $4 million that year.) In some parts of the country, police witnesses are required to attend court proceedings on their days off — and receive no compensation. As a result, says James L. Lacy, in a paper prepared for the Bureau of Criminal Justice, "officers with a number of cases pending may be tempted to avoid making less serious arrests. "

• Until quite recently, many private hospitals in the District of Columbia would not admit sexual- assault victims. Reason: the tremendous loss of time by high-priced medical personnel who were called endlessly to court to testify.

“The typical experience of a witness”, sums up Donald Santarelli who until recently headed the Department of Justice's Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), "is to be abused, ignored, attacked. At the end of a day in court, he is likely to feel that he is the accused. So he tunes out; he doesn't come forward as a witness when he should."

Vocabulary notes

mugging	нападение на улице (сзади) с целью ограбления
perennial	вечный, зд. убежденный
to hold up at gunpoint	держать на мушке, под прицелом
holdup	вооруженный грабеж
conspiracy	преступный сговор
material witness	главный свидетель по делу
on a bail	под залог
to testify	давать показания
cases pending	дела, ожидающие решения
to tempt	искушать, соблазнять
sexual- assault	нападение сексуального характера
tremendous	огромный
to tune out	зд. отказываться сотрудничать

Task 3. Read the text again and make sure you know all underlined parts of the text. Give their Russian equivalents

Task 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the message of this text?

2. Why are people unwilling to cooperate when they have to appear in the court as witnesses?

3. Who is a material witness?

4. Why are California Highway Patrol officers tempted to avoid making less serious arrests?

5. Why would not many private hospitals in the District of Columbia admit sexual- assault victims?

6. What is the typical experience of a witness according to Donald Santarelli?

Task 5. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Agreement or disagreement should be followed by some comment

1. Being a witness is a pleasant and rewarding experience.

2. Many private hospitals would gladly admit sexual- assault victims.

3. There is increasing agreement that the witness is the Forgotten man of our judicial system.

4. Witnesses have to post a bond to assure their appearance at the trial.

5. Police witnesses are required to attend court proceedings on their workdays — and receive some compensation.

6. A witness always comes forward as a witness when he/she should whatever it costs him/her.

7. At the end of a day in court, a witness is likely to feel that he/she is the accused.

Task 6. Ask the questions to which the following statements are the answers:

1. His son-in-law urged him to be a witness.

2. I don't get paid if I show up absent.

3. On August 26, 1971, Mrs. Patricia Finck was held up at gunpoint.

4. She had to go to court 45 times.

5. The store paid me for all the time I was in court.

6. It was a pretty disgusting experience.

7. His family had to go on welfare.

8. The typical experience of a witness is to be abused, ignored, and attacked.

9. Medical personnel were called endlessly to court to testify.

10. He is likely to feel that he is the accused.

Task 7. Explain in English what the words and word combinations mean. Use them in your own sentences

Mugging, to make a monkey out of somebody, cynic, robber, holdup, hang around, a material witness, testimony, defendants, welfare., to testify, abuse, the accused, conspiracy, to be out on bail

Task 8. Practice the speech patterns given below. Make up two sentences of your own on each pattern

1. In fact, things are much worse for him than even Archie, that perennial cynic, suspects. That means it lost much more in my time than the amount originally stolen.

2. It was a pretty disgusting experience. His testimony is pretty important.

3. At the end of a day in court, he is likely to feel that he is the accused. He is likely to be found guilty. The policeman is likely to tell the witness nothing informative. But certain capture is unlikely to deter hardened crimi­nals.

4. Until quite recently, many private hospitals in the District of Columbia would not admit sexual- assault victims. He would not come forward as a witness when he should.

5. For once Archie has a lot of company among both liberals and conservatives. The testimony was both funny and shocking. American crime is both violent and irrational.

6. A California Highway Patrol study showed that 60 percent of its officers' time in court is spent waiting to testify. None of us likes to be held up for a long time making a credit-card purchase or cashing a check

Task 9. Make the summary of the text. Use the key words and word combinations

Text 2

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. Why do you think there are delays in court proceedings?

2. What is the work of a defense counsel?

3. Are people paid any money if they appear in court as witnesses?

Task 2. Read the text to get the main idea paying special attention to the underlined parts of the text (key words and word combinations)

Not long ago, the leaa (Law Enforcement Assistance Administration) checked some 3000 District of Columbia cases dropped because of various weaknesses in the evidence. Close to half had to be dropped because witnesses had failed to cooperate; just how witnesses are abused, discouraged and penalized was spelled out for me in interviews around the country:

1. Delays: "We have cases where witnesses have to come back 10 to 15 times," Deputy District Attorney Michael Ash told me in Milwaukee. "Recently, when we did a survey of 294 witnesses, nearly 40 percent of them said they would be less cooperative in the future."

Why are there so many delays? A1970 study of criminal justice hammered at the main cause: "It is standard procedure for the defense counsel to employ every means at his disposal to frustrate efforts to bring the case to trial. The objective is to wear out the state's witnesses. Cooperative victims and witnesses become hostile, refuse to appear and, if summoned, become unwilling to provide the testimony needed for conviction. "

While most defense law yers consider delay their most important weapon few are as frank as William Coffey, a prominent Milwaukee defense attorney. Coffey told a local bar association in 1970: "Your job as a criminal lawyer is to see that your client never gets to trial. If he does, there is too much chance that he is going to get convicted. ”

2. Witness Fees: A 1972 survey of state laws on witness fees showed that 44 states pay from nothing to $6 a day. The Constitution says that private property may not be taken for public use without just compensation, points out Michael Ash. That isn’t that what we’re doing when we make a man who earns $30-$40 a day come to court again and again as a witness, and we pay him some miserable sum like $5 a day?”

One witness, the father of six children, lost $574 in wages because his employer refused to pay for time lost during many court appearances. Several men, interviewed during Detroit, Milwaukee and District of Colombia surveys, told of losing jobs because of repeated calls to court. A citizen has no legal protection against such summary firing.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26