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IS A CRIME CRACKDOWN.doc
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Set Work

I. Supply the English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

смягчающие вину обстоятельства

суд присяжных

право на жизнь

пожизненное заключение

опросы общественного мнения

самосуд

милосердие.

II. Mr. Weller is a proponent of death penalty, isn’t he? Say if you think his approach is logical. Back up your opinion.

III. Choose a key thesis of each section and account for your selection.

IV. Which of the sections sounds most convincing, do you think?

V. Speak about Mr. Weller’s stand on death penalty. Say if you side with him on the issue.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty, and since ancient times it has been used to punish a wide variety of offences. The Bible prescribes death for murder and many other crimes, including kidnapping and witchcraft.

Reform of the death penalty began in Europe by the 1750s, and was championed by such thinkers as the Italian jurist Cesare Beccaria, the French philosopher Voltaire, and the English law reformer Jeremy Bentham. They argued that the death penalty was needlessly cruel, overrated as a deterrent, and occasionally imposed in fatal error.

By the 1850s these reform efforts bore fruit. In the United States the death penalty for murder was first abolished in Michigan (1847); Venezuela (1853) and Portugal (1867) were the first nations to abolish it altogether. Today, it is virtually abolished in all of Western Europe and most of Latin America. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East (except Israel) – most countries still authorize capital punishment for many crimes and use it with varying frequency.

Methods of inflicting the death penalty have ranged from stoning in Biblical times, crucifixion under the Romans, beheading in France, to those used in the United States today: hanging, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, and lethal injection.

Debate over the merits of capital punishment continues unabated. Proponents defend it mainly on two grounds: death is the fitting punishment for murder, and executions maximize public safety through incapacitation and deterrence. Opponents reply that there is no evidence that the murder rate fluctuates according to the frequency with which the death penalty is used. They also object that “lex talionis” (a life for a life) is not a sound principle of criminal justice – that society cannot allow the brutalities of criminal violence to set the limits of appropriate punishments.

Set Work

I. Choose the correct meaning according to the passage.

1. Capital punishment was

a. first enforced in the 19th century.

b. mentioned in the Bible.

c. was first enforced in Europe.

d. was forbidden in Biblical times.

2. Proponents of the death penalty argue that it is

a. not a deterrent in practice.

b. altogether a just measure.

c. a sound and cruel principle.

d. cruel and does not deter capital crimes.

3. The debate over capital punishment

a. has ceased in our time.

b. is still an issue.

c. has abated since its abolishment in most civilized countries.

d. continues only in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

4. Opponents of capital punishment argue that “lex talionis” is a

a. principle that has a good sound to it.

b. is logical.

c. is illogical.

d. is indestructible.

5. In Biblical times capital punishment was inflicted by

a. placing the criminal on a cross and throwing rocks at him.

b. placing him on a cross.

c. by casting stones at him.

d. by burying the criminal with rocks.

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