Supplementary reading. Task 18. Sum up the main information from the text in writing

Family Drama

Task 19. Role Play.

Task 18. Sum up the main information from the text in writing.

Situation: Mrs. Mary Wood comes home after the trial with her son Robin. Fifteen-year-old Robin committed a theft of a computer from a shop. In court he was sentenced to one month of imprisonment and was placed on probation and his parents were fined Ј500.

Play participants: Mrs. Mary Wood

Mr. John Wood

Robin, their son

Taking part in the play as acting characters add new details or make some changes:

a. Mrs. Mary Wood tells the head of the family about the course of the trial upon their son’s case: The court took into account the circumstances, extenuating (пом’якшуючи) his guilt... The terms of probation to be obeyed are the following: Robin must attend the Youth Treatment Centre three hours a day...

b. Robin repents (розкаюватися) of all he has done and notes he asked his father to buy a computer... Now he apologizes to his parents and promises to study hard...

c. Mr. John Wood is in anger and thinks the judge acted too gently (he should have punished Robin more severely), that Robin did not want to wait a bit – he was just going to buy a computer by his birthday... Now Robin has to work by himself (the father has arranged everything) to earn some money to buy that damned computer...

ROLE OF THE LEGISLATURE IN THE LAW-MAKING PROCESS The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation. The process by which a proposed bill becomes a law can be very complex and take years. (For more detailed information) Introduction of Bills. Bills may originate in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, except that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. U.S. Const. art. I, sec. 7. Only Senators and Representatives (also known as Members of Congress) can introduce a bill in their respective chamber. When bills are introduced, they are given a bill number. The numbering system starts over with each session of Congress, and bill numbers run in chronological order according to when the bill is introduced. Bills in the House of Representatives are given the initial H.R. and Senate Bills are given the initial S. Thus, H.R. 1, would be the first bill introduced in a new session of Congress or the House of Representatives (a session of Congress lasts for two years). Committee Consideration. After a bill is introduced, it is assigned to one or more committees in the chamber where it was introduced. A committee can amend, rewrite, recommend, or ignore the bill or report back to the full chamber with no recommendation. Committees typically also submit a report explaining their views of the bill when sending a bill to the full House or Senate. Floor Debate and Vote. Once the bill has emerged from committee consideration, it moves to the "floor" of either the House of Representatives or the Senate (again depending on where the bill was introduced). The entire chamber debates and may amend the bill. It then takes an open vote on the bill. For noncontroversial votes, the chamber will take a voice vote, but if any legislator asks for a roll call, then each member's vote is made separately and publicly. Passage in Both Chambers. If the bill passes the first chamber, it is sent to the other chamber where the process described above is repeated. If the bill is amended in the second chamber, it must be sent back to the first Chamber because both chambers must agree on the amendments. If the two chambers cannot immediately agree on how to pass identical legislation, the bill will be sent to a joint committee (comprised of both House of Representatives and Senate members), which will attempt to work out a compromise among the different versions of the bill. If the joint committee is successful, the bill will be returned to both chambers for a vote. Overriding a Presidential Veto. Once an identical bill passes both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the President who can do the following: (1) sign it and thus make it a law; (2) do nothing and after 10 days, if Congress stays in session, it becomes law; (3) do nothing and if Congress adjourns within 10 days, it does not become law; or (4) reject the bill by vetoing it and the bill will not become law unless the veto is overridden by Congress. Congress may override the President's veto by approving the bill again with at least a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and theSenate. The bill then becomes a law despite the President's veto. Public Access to Information. All floor debates and votes are published the following day in the Congressional Record. Legislators can review the Congressional Record before it is published to change or add a statement. Committee reports for major legislation are published separately by the Government Printing Office. In recent years, many committee hearings, floor debates and votes have been broadcast live through CSPAN (Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network), a cable television network that provides twenty-four hour coverage of public affairs.(For more information about C-SPAN) State Legislatures. The state legislatures act in much the same way, although the process for enacting a bill within the legislatures is often more streamlined. Every state legislature, except Nebraska's, has two chambers. Most governors have veto power over state legislation, analogous to the veto power of the President. Citizen Initiatives. Unlike the federal government, several states also allow for citizen initiatives. In some of these states, citizens can hold a direct vote on a specific proposed law directly. In other states, citizen initiatives may force the legislatures to vote on an issue. To get a specific initiative on the election ballot or on the legislature's docket typically requires that organizers collect a certain number of signatures of eligible voters. ROLE OF THE COURTS The role of the judiciary is to decide cases and controversies between adversarial parties, including the government. Through the concept of stare decisis judicial decisions in U.S. jurisdictions can act as binding precedent for subsequent decisions. In most cases, when an appellate court makes a decision it not only decides who wins the specific case, but also provides a detailed written opinion that explains the basis for the court's decision to guide lower courts in handling future cases.Every level of the federal courts has the power to interpret the federal Constitution, and federal laws and regulations. The courts also exercise judicial review over federal statutes and agency actions, and determine the constitutionality of federal and state laws. To the extent any statute or agency action is found to be unconstitutional, it is invalid.Federal courts also interpret federal legislation and federal agency rules and decisions. Judicial Review of Agency Action. Many federal environmental statutes provide specific standards for judicial review of agency actions under the statute. See, e.g., CAA, 42 U.S.C. sec. 7607; RCRA, 42 U.S.C. sec. 6976; TSCA, 15 U.S.C. sec. 2618.In the absence of any specific statutory review procedures, the APA grants a general right of judicial review of any adverse, final agency action. The reviewing court can decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the agency action. The reviewing court has the authority to compel any agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed, or to set aside any agency action, findings or conclusions the court finds to be: (A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law; (B) contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege or immunity; (C) in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations, or short of statutory right; (D) adopted without procedures required by law; (E) unsupported by substantial evidence in administrative cases; or (F) unwarranted by the facts to the extent that the facts can be reviewed by the court.Many judicial challenges to administrative agency rules go directly to a court of appeals and are not further tried by the district courts. 5 U.S.C. secs. 701-706. Common Law. The U.S. is a common law country. Every state is based on the common law, except Louisiana (which is based on the French civil code). Common law has no statutory basis; judges establish common law through written opinions that are binding on future decisions of lower courts in the same jurisdiction. Broad areas of the law, most notably relating to property, contracts, and torts, are traditionally part of the common law. These areas of the law are mostly within the jurisdiction of the states, and thus state courts are the primary source of common law. The area of federal common law is primarily limited to federal issues that have not been addressed by a statute. Judicial Procedures. All courts follow a strict set of procedural requirements. In 1938 the Supreme Court promulgated the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which are periodically updated and renewed by the U.S. Judicial Conference.

They are uniform in all federal jurisdictions, although each federal court may also adopt additional rules. Every state court has its own set of rules, which are typically not as detailed or strict as the federal rules. In courts of original jurisdiction, judges are usually provided with juries to decide all questions of facts. The right to a jury is generally guaranteed by the federal Constitution in federal cases, and state constitutions typically contain similar provisions which apply in state cases.

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