Text 6 Classification of crimes

Exercise 6.1 Study the vocabulary:

1) embezzlement	1) розтрата
2) slander	2) наклеп (усний)
3) libel	3) наклеп (письмовий)
4) smuggling	4) контрабанда
5) assault	5) збройний напад
6) assassination	6) вбивство політичного діяча
7) treason	7) державна зрада
8) arson	8) підпал
9)extortion	9) вимагання
10) theft	10) крадіжка
11) burglary	11) крадіжка зі зломом
12)felony	12) тяжкий кримінальний злочин
13)misdemeanor	13) дрібний злочин
14)culpability	14) винуватість
15)infringe on the rights	15) порушення прав
16)act of attainder	16) законодавчий акт, що передбачає застосування покарання
17)larceny	17) крадіжка, здійснена за обтяжливих обставин
18)antitrust legislation	18) антимонопольне законодавство
19)ex post facto law	19) закон із зворотною силою
20)to ascertain	20) встановлювати
21)propriety	21) виправданість

Exercise 6.2 Read and translate the text:

Crimes are usually classified as treason, felony, or misdemeanor. The fundamental distinction between felonies and misdemeanors rests with the penalty and the power of imprisonment. In general, a misdemeanor is an offense for which a punishment other than death or imprisonment in the state prison is prescribed by law. The term “degree of crime” refers to distinctions in the culpability of an offense because of the circumstance surrounding its commission. Crimes are sometimes divided according to their nature into crimes mala in se and crimes mala prohibita; the former class comprises those acts that are thought to be immoral or wrong in themselves, or naturally evil, such as murder, rape, arson, burglary, larceny, and the like; the latter class embraces those acts that are not naturally evil but are prohibited by statute because they infringe on the rights of others (e.g. acts in restraint of trade that have been made criminal under antitrust legislation). For example, in the United States, the power to define crimes and set punishment for them rests with the legislatures of the United States, the several states, and the territories, the principal authority being that of the individual states. This power in the states is registered by the federal Constitution, e.g., in the Fourteenth Amendment and in prohibitions against acts of attainder (an act of attainder is a legislative declaration that a particular individual is guilty of a crime) and against ex post facto laws (laws that retroactively declare certain actions to be criminal). State constitutions may also limit state legislative action. The courts cannot look further into the propriety of a penal statute than to ascertain whether the legislature has the power to enact it. Administrative rules may have the force of law, and violations of such rules are punishable as public offenses, provided that the legislature has made such violations misdemeanors.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03