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

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  1. A Note on the Footnotes
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  3. Active Vocabulary
  4. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
  5. Active vocabulary
  6. Active vocabulary
  7. Active vocabulary
vital-records offi­ces ЗАГС
to nab поймать на месте преступления, арестовать
a tip намек, сведения
deceased умерший, покойный
a con man мошенник
to dicker over торговаться
chiseler мошенник, пройдоха
to exact their toll взыскивать, взимать дань
to tap опустошать, перекачивать в свой карман

 

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. How and where can a person obtain a copy of the birth certificate?

3. What other documents can the criminal "breed" with the birth certificate?

4. Why do criminals most often seek to ob­tain the birth certificate of a person who died in infancy?

5. Who are those paper people?

6. How did a "welfare queen" managed to milk huge amounts of money?

7. Why did con men work it out so that the transaction took place after banking hours?

 

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

1. One of the most basic documents in American life is a credit card.

2. You can obtain a copy of certificate from vital-records offi­ces only personally.

3. If an American wants to open bank accounts, ob­tain credit, he/she needs a Social Security card or driver's license.

4. The official handing over a certified copy of the certificate can find out quickly whether that person is living or dead.

5. Only illegal aliens lay a financial bur­den on every citizen.

6. A "welfare queen" milked huge amounts of money from a variety of social-welfare programs.

7. Con men never dickered over price and agreed to buy a car without hesitation.

 

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

1. More than ten million birth-certificate copies are obtained from vital-recordsoffi­ces across the nation each year.

2. 80 percent of them are obtained by mail.

3. The criminal can "breed" other documents.

4. His existence will never be challenged.

5. The pa­per people make all Americans their vic­tims.

6. Illegal aliens take millions of jobs.

7. A tip caused authorities to investigate further.

8. She could have got about $600 a month for nothing.

9. The woman represented herself as an un­employed mother or widow.

10. They were well-dressed and backed with fraudu­lently obtained I.D-s.

 

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

the birth certificate, fee, unemploy­ment or welfare benefits, to challenge ex­istenc, assumed identities, illegal aliens, welfare chiselers, vague, a welfare queen, to back up, to milk money, preliminary hearing, to scan want-ads, legitimate

.

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

1. You can obtain a copy of your own — or someone else's usually by merely paying a small fee and an­swering a few questions. America is not obviously more criminal than anywhere else. Under my proposals prisoners who cooperate and behave well will be able to earn up to 20% off theirsentence, e veryone else will serve their sentence in full.

2. The official handing over a certified copy of the certificate generally has no idea whether that person is living or dead, nor any quick means of find­ing out. These people are not insane, nor are they fools. After all, no lawyer really wants a fair and impartial juror. Nor would a juror with extensive knowledge of any field involved in the case be acceptable.

3. At her preliminary hearing, her own attorney proved to be unsure of her real name. They proved to know nothing about the man in question.

4. In California, a group of con men scanned want-ads for expensive cars being sold by private owners. Other recommendations being studied include measures to see that the I.D. of a criminal suspect is immediately verified at the time of his arrest.

5. They would present a phony cashier's check for the car and drive off. He was a nice guy but he would always come late whatever the occasion was.

6. "She could have got about $600 a month for nothing," said one detective on the case. All could have received a life sentence — but only ten actually did.

 

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

 

Text 3

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. Do criminals often use counterfeit ID-s and for what purposes?

2. Is there a problem of illegal aliens in Russia?

3. Can you suggest any solution to the problem under discussion?

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

Cloak for crime and terrorism. Fraudulent credentials enable paper people to live handsomely off the system while committing crimes or evadingarrest. Members of the Symbionese Liberation Army who kidnapped Patty Hearst traveled with an extensive file of birth certificates, driver's licenses, credit cards and other documents to abet their under­ground existence. David Fine, 23, a fugitive in the 1970 University of Wisconsin bombing which killed an assistant professor, had been on the FBI's ten-most-wanted list for more than five years before his capture last January in California. He had at­tended university classes, collected unemployment payments and food stamps as a paper person. "I had managed to make a successful life for myself," Fine said.

A month earlier San Diego police arrested Douglas Hardy on a petit-larcenycharge. His fingerprints were routinely sent to Washington, where the FBI spotted them as those of Dwight Armstrong, a second fugitive in the Wisconsin bombing. The FBI advised San Diego, only to find "Hardy" had been released be­cause of overcrowding at the jail. He is still at large.

Counterfeit citizens. Many illegal aliens are smuggled into this coun­try with no papers whatsoever, but once here they often resort to the uses of false identity to obtain un­employment and welfare benefits and other public services. They cost the public $12 billion a year. Cali­fornia officials estimate that they pay $100 million a year in welfare to counterfeit citizens, in New York City, 65,000 illegal aliens are en­rolled in the public schools at an annual cost of $78 million. Immigration officials estimate that there are eight million illegal aliens in the United States. Contrary to popular belief that they hold only menial jobs undesirable to the ma­jority of Americans, more than a million enjoy highly paid employ­ment. Recent apprehensions include a Greek plumber earning $12 an hour, a Jamaican carpenter making $300 a week, a West Indian electron­ics engineer with a salary of $57,000 a year. Government experts report that aliens annually send approxi­mately billion in wages out of the country.

Later this summer, the federal in­vestigating panel will report its find­ings to Attorney General Edward Levi. Among the recommendations under consideration: the matching of birth and death records, and instituting criminal penalties for fraudulent use of birth certificates. Other recommendations being studied include measures to see that the I.D. of a criminalsuspect is immediately verified at the time of his arrest so known criminals won't be released; and institution of strict­er standards for identification of all applicants for driver's licenses and for Social Security, welfare and other public benefits.

Officials serving on the panel are aware that no amount of legislation or increased regulation can make up for simple vigilance at the grass-roots level. "And this in itself is a challenge," says Justice Depart­ment's David Muchow. "None of us likes to be held up for a long time making a credit-card purchase or cashing a check, and a lot of us want to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. But we have to remem­ber we are all paying the bills for those who make the paper trip. These people are exacting a hidden tax from all of us and, at the same time, fostering an atmosphere of doubt and mistrust that hurts every innocent citizen."

Vocabulary notes

 

credentials удостоверение личности
to abet содействовать
fugitive беглец, скрывшийся с места преступления
food stamps талоны на получение продуктов
petit-larceny мелкая кража
menial слуга, прил. низкий
grass-roots простые люди, мширокие массы
to foster благоприятствовать, способствовать

 

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 text mainly concerned with?

2. In what way do paper people abuse the system7

3. Why do illegal aliens often resort to the uses of false identity?

4. What jobs do they hold?

5. What recommendations are given to solve the problem of paper people?

6. What are ordinary people required to do in this situation?

 

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

1. Members of the Symbionese Liberation Army murdered Patty Hearst.

2. David Fine is a fugitive in the hit-and-run accident.

3. Douglas Hardy was arrested on a murder charge.

4. Douglas Hardy proved to have been an accomplice in a terrorist attack.

5. Now he is in jail.

6. Illegal aliens are smuggled into this coun­try without any documents.

7. They cost the public just a trifle a year.

8. Illegal aliens hold only menial jobs undesirable to the ma­jority of Americans.

9. Nothing can make up for simple vigilance at the grass-roots level.

 

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

1. They enable paper people to live handsomely off the system while committing crimes or evading arrest.

2. They traveled with an extensive file of documents.

3. The bombing killed an assistant professor.

4. He was captured last January in California.

5. His fingerprints were routinely sent to Washington.

6. "Hardy» was released because of overcrowding at the jail.

7. They pay $100 million a year in welfare to counterfeit citizens.

8. There are eight million illegal aliens in the United States.

9. Aliens annually send approximately billion in wages out of the country.

10. An atmosphere of doubt and mistrust hurts every innocent citizen.

 

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

Fraudulent, birth certificates, under­ground existence, bombing, food stamps, routinely, to estimate, toen­roll in, menial jobs, the matching, to be aware, to make up for, to hold up, the benefit of the doubt, to make the paper trip

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

1. Fraudulent credentials enable paper people to live handsomely off the system while committing crimes or evading arrest. Eight states, while retaining the NGRI verdict, allow as an alterna­tive a "guilty but mentally ill" ver­dict

2. The FBI advised San Diego, only to find "Hardy" had been released be­cause of overcrowding at the jail. Trapnell went to Maryland's Spring Grove Hospital Center with a diagnosis of «chronic paranoid schizophrenia," only to be released a year later.

Contrary to popular belief that they hold only menial jobs undesirable to the ma­jority of Americans, more than a million enjoy highly paid employ­ment.This writerenjoysworldfame.American citizensenjoy rights and freedomsguaranteed by the Constitution.

4. " None of us likes to be held up for a long time making a credit-card purchase or cashing a check, and a lot of us want to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. These people are exacting a hidden tax from all of us. Most of the lawyers in the world now live in the United States. These criminals would not necessarily spend longer in prison as a result. But none of them would be released until they have undergone a rigorous risk assessment.

5. Many illegal aliens are smuggled into this coun­try with no papers whatsoever, but once here they often resort to the uses of false identity to obtain un­employment and welfare benefits and other public services. Given that persistent criminals are more likely to be sent to prison, it is perhaps surprising that the proportion who reoffend once released is not higher. But certain capture is unlikely to deter hardened criminals if they know that, once convicted, they will only be lightly punished.

 

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.

После череды терактов на повестке дня вновь оказался вопрос введения паспортов с биометрическими показателями: рисунком радужной оболочки глаза, отпечатками пальцев и тепловой картой лица. По мнению работников правоохранительных органов, документы нового образца не только станут препятствием для деятельности террористов, но и нанесут серьезный удар по незаконному рынку поддельных бумаг. Но пока на трагические события и, как следствие, усиление документального контроля рынок фальшивок отреагировал повышением цен – в первую очередь на удостоверения личности и свидетельства о регистрации.Милицейские специалисты, да и сами изготовители фальшивок делят рынок поддельных документов на три сектора. Первый из них – подделка паспортов, бланков регистрации и миграционных карт – самый выгодный. Второй – продажа фальшивых или незаконная помощь в регистрации подлинных документов на автомобиль – наиболее стабильный (спрос на нем будет всегда). И третий сектор услуг – образовательные документы: круг его клиентуры довольно узкий и тоже характеризуется стабильностью. Еще несколько лет назад главным источником приобретения подделок были подземные переходы и станции метро, где выстраивались продавцы с картонками «Дипломы», «Паспорта», «Аттестаты». Дальнейшая процедура «получения образования» выглядела просто: торговке оставляли контактный телефон и ждали звонка. Рекламные газеты также предоставляли широкий выбор образовательных документов. Сегодня, как отмечают специалисты, главным каналом распространения фальшивых документов стал интернет. «Эмиграция» бизнеса по предоставлению фальшивых документов во всемирную паутину – не секрет для правоохранительных органов. «Естественно, мы знаем об огромном количестве сайтов, предлагающих помощь в якобы легальном оформлении различных документов, – рассказала корреспонденту «НГ» пресс-секретарь паспортно-визового управления (ПВУ) ГУВД Москвы Залина Моисеева. – Действуют они разнообразно, а виртуальное пространство предоставляет не только быстроту маневров, но и практически 100-процентную безопасность».

 

Text 2

 

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

 

Границу США можно пересечь по поддельным документам. Об этом свидетельствует исследование американской администрации. В нем подчеркивается, что спецагенты девять раз проникали в Соединенные Штаты со стороны Мексики и Канады, и при этом никто не потребовал от них предъявить документы. В исследовании отмечается, что это опасно тем, что в страну могут свободно проникнуть террористы и другие криминальные элементы.

В министерстве национальной безопасности США говорят, что их сотрудники проходят спецподготовку для того, чтобы определять фальшивые свидетельства о рождении, водительские права и другие удостоверения. Однако там признают, что иногда они не могут быстро определить подлинность того или иного документа, которых сейчас в США насчитывается более 8 тыс. видов.

"Эти недоработки позволяют потенциальным т еррористам или другим преступникам свободно въезжать на территорию США"

Попасть на территорию США по фальшивым документам гражданина этой страны через официальные пункты пропуска гораздо проще и легче, чем нелегально пытаться пересечь границу. Такие выводы сделала Счетная комиссия конгресса после того, как 9 из 18 ее агентов в разных штатах въехали в Соединенные Штаты. Американские пограничники либо не могли отличить подделку, либо просто не проверяли удостоверения личности.

Эксперимент Счетной комиссии проводился с февраля по июнь. Как передает Associated Press, сотрудники комиссии, выдавая себя за граждан США, но с поддельными удостоверениями личности, смогли попасть на территорию Штатов через контрольно-пропускные пункты в Калифорнии, Техасе, Мичигане, Айдахо и штате Вашингтон.

При этом в Аризоне и Нью-Йорке свой трюк агенты проделали дважды. В Аризоне и Калифорнии пограничники даже не спросили документы, а в Техасе не смогли выявить поддельное водительское удостоверение, якобы выданное в Вирджинии. Пограничник сказал только: "О’кей, все будет хорошо" - и пропустил " нелегала " на территорию США без какого-либо досмотра, отмечается в докладе.

 

Text 3

 

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

 

В связи с этим члены комиссии напомнили, что двое из террористов, совершивших теракт в США 11 сентября, также имели поддельные документы штата Вирджиния, с помощью которых были куплены билеты на самолеты. "Эти недоработки позволяют потенциальным террористам или другим преступникам свободно въезжать на территорию Соединенных Штатов из Канады или Мексики с практически нулевым шансом быть задержанными ", - гласит заключение комиссии конгресса.

Комментируя выводы эксперимента, представитель Департамента внутренней безопасности США Джеррод Эйджен заверил, что американские пограничники могут выявлять поддельные документы, например свидетельства о рождении, водительские удостоверения. Однако он признал, что "они не могут пристально изучать те 8 тыс. типов удостоверений, действующих на территории США, не создавая заторы на пунктах пропуска".

Доклад Счетной комиссии в ближайшее время будет обсуждаться в Комитете финансов сената, где решается вопрос о сокращении с конца 2007 года количества документов, по которым можно въехать на территорию США. На этом и настаивает Джеррод Эйджен. "Это (большое число типов документов) и создает уязвимость нашей безопасности, которую мы надеемся закрыть со следующего года", - сказал он.

Идея сократить число удостоверений для въезда на территорию США возникла еще после терактов в сентябре 2001 года. Представители конгресса уже дали согласие на новые правила. Теперь их должны утвердить члены сената. По плану они должны вступить в силу с 31 декабря 2007 года.

 

UNIT 3 Discussion Points

 

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

Counterfeit documents pose a great danger to a society

Identification of counterfeit documents

Tapping public funds in Russia

Fraudulent credentials as a cover for terrorists and criminals

Illegal aliens in the area you live in

All kinds of con artists

 

Task 2. Give a short newspaper review on the use of aliens (both legal and illegal) as cheap workforce. 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 problems of false credentials of today. You may speak about paper people in your country, the documents forged more often than others, ways to combat the problem, abuse of people’s confidence and so on.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. Retell the text as if you were:a) a government expert, b) a law-enforcement official, c) a representative of the business community, d) a representative of the public, e) an illegal alien, f) a vital records office manager, g) a paper person

 

Task 5. Speak on the topic: “ I am not easily deceived by f raudulent credentials because ….

 

Task 5. Team work. Case Study: The following situations are based on real cases from the federal courts. Consider the arguments, and then decide how you would rule. Compare your answers with actual case results

Perry, a young state trooper, was promoted to sergeant for bravery in the line of duty. Then he learned that every ser­geant in the state highway patrol had a quota of 100 speeding tickets to give out per week. "That's unfair to drivers, and it's illegal," he complained to his com­mander. "I refuse to comply."

When Perry was demoted, he sued the department for loss of wages and punitive damages. "Judge," he argued, "you can't lower a man's rank and salary for speaking out against illegal conduct — espe­cially in the police department."

Would you decide for Perry or the state?

 


CHAPTER 7: The Insanity Defense is Insane

UNIT 1. Giving the summary of the text

 

Text 1

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. Do you think criminals are normal people?

2. What is insanity defense?

3. Can a person be convicted if he/she is insane?

 

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

To millions of Americans, the verdict was astounding. John W. Hinckley, Jr. the man who carefully mapped the attempted assassination of the Pres­ident, the gunman who fired a bullet into Ronald Reagan's chest and horribly wounded his press secretary and shot two others — was found not guiltyby reason of insanity. He would be confined to a federal mental hospital until the judge and psychiatrists decide re­leasing him would not pose a danger to himself or others. Outside the courtroom, Hinckley's chief at­torney quipped, "Another day, an­other dollar."

The reaction was overwhelming. Angry constituents bombarded my office and those of other lawmakers with phone calls and letters: "The system stinks." "A rich kid can buy his way out of anything." "Hinckley wasn't crazy; that jury was."

Yet we should not blame the jury. We should blame the law. It is obvious that the insanity defense should be drastically limited.

I agree with Baltimore State's Attorney William A. Swisher that the insanity defense is "being used by people who are intelligent, plan their crimes over a long period of time, then deliberately carry them out." I agree with my colleague Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.), a former prosecutor, that "70 percent of all defendants could provide as good an insanity defense as John Hinckley." And I agree, too, with Dr. Abraham L. Halpern, director of psychiatry at University Hospital in Port Chester, N.Y., that "now that the damage has been done, Hinckley will be remembered less as the travesty of justice that it is, than as the driving force that final­ly moved legislators to bring an end to the mockery of criminal justice known as the insanity defense."

Until recent years, defendants found not guilty by reason of insan­ity (NGRI) were usually committed automatically and confined until deemed no longer dangerous. As a rule, that meant many years, fre­quently a lifetime, in a remote asy­lum. Most NGRI acquittees spent longer periods in mental institu­tions than they would have in prisons if they had pleaded guilty.

But no more. The development of new psychoactive drugs has con­verted mental institutions from neglected warehouses into rapid-turnover treatment centers. Long-term hospitalizations are rare, although the drugs are no sure-fire control for mental disorders.

Equally important, a series of federal- and state-court decisions has greatly limited the confinement of NGRIs. Today most states must hold judicial hearings before com­mitting the NGRI acquittee. Many must have treatment plans for each patient and grant regular hearings to determine whether the patient is still dangerous. Some must even obtain a judge’s permission if the patient objects to being transferred from a less secure unit to a more secure one. And if a patient doesn't like his medication, he may even go to federal court before he is com­pelled to take it.

 

Vocabulary notes

to map составлять план
attempted assassination попытка убийства
insanity безумие, невменяемость
to confine заточить, держать взаперти
to quip насмехаться
constituents избиратели
drastically радикально, коренным образом
to pose a danger to представлять опасность для
to do damage наносить ущерб
travesty пародия
to commit помещать в, арестовывать
deem полагать, считать

 

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. What made John W. Hinckley notorious?

3. What was the reaction of constituents to Hinckley’s case?

4. Whom does the author blame for Hinckley’s acquittal?

5. What was the practice of treating the NGRI acquittees until recent years?

6. What have mental institutions been turned into with the development of new psychoactive drugs?

7. What may happen if a patient doesn't like his medication?

 

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

1. To millions of Americans, the verdict was astounding.

2. John W. Hinckley, Jr. fired a bullet into Ronald Reagan’s shoulder.

3. John W. Hinckley was found guilty by reason of insanity.

4. The insanity defense is being used by people who are very clever.

5. Hinckley will be remembered mostly as the travesty of justice.

6. Angry constituents bombarded the office and those of other lawmakers with hand made bombs and missiles.

7. Most NGRI acquittees spent shorter periods in mental institutions than they would have in prisons if they had pleaded guilty.

 

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

1. Hinckley fired a bullet into Ronald Reagan's chest and horribly wounded his press secretary and shot two others.

2. He would be confinedto a federal mental hospital.

3. The insanity defense should be drastically limited.

4. The driving force that final­ly moved legislators to bring an end to the mockery of criminal justice.

5. Sen. Arlen Specter is a former prosecutor.

6. Long-term hospitalizations are rare.

7. The drugs are no sure-fire control for mental disorders.

 

Task 7. Explain in English what the words and word combinations mean:

To map a crime, mental hospital, psychiatrist, to buy one’s way out of,prosecutor, travesty of justice, the driving force, mockery, to plead guilty, rapid-turnover, sure-fire control, acquittee, to compel

 

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

1. Most NGRI acquittees spent longer periods in mental institutions than they would have in prisons if they had pleaded guilty. Nobody would remember Hinckley’s name if he hadn’t attempted to assassinate the American president.

2. Today most states must hold judicial hearings before com­mitting the NGRI acquittee. Most NGRI acquittees spent long periods in mental institu­tions before being released.

3. Some must even obtain a judge’s permission if the patient objects to being transferred from a less secure unit to a more secure one. Angry constituents objected to his being confined to a federal mental hospital

4. 70 percent of all defendants could provide as good an insanity defense as John Hinckley. I believe he is as clever and manipulative as any other NGRI acquittee.

5. Yet we should not blame the jury. We should blame the law. It is obvious that the insanity defense should be drastically limited.

 

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

 

Text 2

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. Do you believe that mental patients can be completely cured?

2. How should NGRI acquittees be treated?

3. What is your opinion of NGRI acquittees?

 

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

Little wonder that psychi­atrists and state-court judges now generally feel pressured to get the criminally insane NGRI acquittees back onto the streets — or that they are making mistakes that show up on front pages as sensational crimes by ex-mental inmates:

• In New York, George Fitzsimmons, who was adjudged NGRI in the murder of his parents, con­vinced psychiatrists that he was no longer dangerous and was released to go live with an aunt and uncle. He told psychiatrists he loved them "like my own mother and father." He stabbed them to death. Only then did investigators find that, in both instances, he had had himself named beneficiary of his victims’ life insurance.

• In Hawaii's Waikiki Beach hotel area, Robert E. Miller wound­ed a tourist in an unprovoked snip­er attack and was committed to Kaneohe State Hospital. Six years later, in 1979, he was placed on leave and soon returned to the same area, where with a high-powered rifle he picked off seven people in the teem­ing tourist crowds.

The use of the insanity plea has, in some states, increased significantly in recent years as judges and legis­lators have adopted ever vaguer definitions of insanity and " dimin­ished capacity. " Since defendants sent to mental institutions are usu­ally released earlier than those sent to prison, some defendants have learned to feign insanity. A study at Washington's St. Elizabeth's Hospital — the very facility where Hinckley is being held concluded that of over 1oo hardcore criminals adjudicated NGRI all were "highly clever, manipulative individuals — not insane at all."

Such a person was Garrett Trapnell, arrested at age 20 for armed robbery. His lawyer told him, "You are going to prison for 20 years, or you can go to the state hospital." One accomplice indeed got a 20-year sentence, but Trapnell went to Maryland's Spring Grove Hospital Center with a diagnosis of «chronic paranoid schizophrenia," only to be released a year later. He subse­quently boasted in a lengthy taped interview with a magazine writer, "I read more books on psychiatry and psychology than probably any psychology student in the world."

On subsequent arrests for armed robbery, Trapnell bamboozled more than a dozen psychiatrists into confirming his first diagnosis and won repeated judicial releases after sanity was quickly restored. Only after he skyjacked an airliner was he convicted on criminal charges and sentenced to life in prison. At the trial, the prosecutor played his taped magazine interview, and jurors heard him gloat about his former schizophrenia di­agnosis: "It is a license to kill. I could go out and shoot ten people; in six months I'd be free."


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