US jails

BASIC VOCABULARY

An offence: un délitUphold the law: faire respecter la loiAn offender: un délinquantA law-breaker: contrevenantPetty crime: petite délinquanceThe crime rate: taux de criminalitéA conman: un imposteurArmed robbery: vol à main arméeBurglary: cambriolageA rapist: un violeurManslaughter: homicide involontaireA cop: un flicA constable / an officer: gendarmeThe alleged murderer: l’assassin présuméThe defendant: le prévenuThe plaintiff: le plaignant

(to) charge: inculper Be charged with A trial: un procès(to) prosecute: poursuivreA prosecutor: procureurBe found guilty: être jugé coupableA sentence: condamnation(to) frame: enfermerBe tough on drug dealers: être dur enversLeniency: indulgenceLife imprisonment: prison à vieBe behind bars: être derrière les barreauxBe remanded in custody: être placé en

détentionA miscarriage of justice: erreur judiciaireBe on probation: être en liberté surveilléeThe coroner: chargé d’enquêteThe attorney: l’avocat

Comparing figuresSuperlatifs:The US have the highEST number of prisoners IN the world. THE MOST DRAMATIC increase in the number of prisoners is that of the US. Japan is the LEAST punishing state of all. Emploi adjectival: There has been a most significant change in criminal

policy. Comparatifs:The law is tougher for second offenders.Prosecutors tend to be more lenient than before.There are more people behind bars in the US than in China.There are fewer people jailed in Russia than in the US.In 2006 there were twice as many prisoners in the US as in South Africa /

twice more.

Abc news, 2008The Justice Department has released a new report showing the nation's prison and jail population reached a

record 2.3 million people last year.

• A record 2.3 million people were in the nation's prisons and jails in 2007, according to a Justice Department report released on June 6, 2008.

• The report notes that in the 10 largest states, prison populations increased "during 2006 at more than three times (3.2 percent) the average annual rate of growth (0.9 percent) from 2000 through 2005."

• The new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in the first half of 2007 the growth rate slowed, but prison admissions growth outpaced the number of prison releases. The report provides a breakdown, noting "of the 2.3 million inmates in custody, 2.1 million were men and 208,300 were women. Black males represented the largest percentage (35.4 percent) of inmates held in custody, followed by white males (32.9 percent) and Hispanic males (17.9 percent)."

• The United States leads the industrialized world in incarceration. In fact, the U.S. rate of incarceration (762 per 100,000) is five to eight times that of other highly developed countries, according to The Sentencing Project, a criminal justice think tank.

VOCABULARY EXERCISE

• Pick out the odd-one (l’intrus):a) Inmate – prisoner – jailer b) Charged with – convicted of – guilty – plaintiffc) Soar up – rocket up – dwindle – skyrocketd) Tough – lenient – severe e) Slice – party – portion – partf) Enquiry – exit poll - survey – investigation – studyg) Growth – increase – pit – upsurge – declineh) Steady – fluctuating – regular - stable

Drug offenses rates in the US and Canada

The number of drug offenders has remained fairly stable in Canada: it levelled down / dwindled in the early 1980s and hovered around 0.1% of the population over the last three decades.

In the US, the drug offense rate was as high as in Canada back in the early 80s but rocketed up / soared up all through the 80s to reach an all time peak in 1989-90. It fluctuated throughout the next decade, remaining much higher than in Canada.

What can account for the dramatic evolution of the drug offense rate in the US?

Time cover,Feb. 1994

Time, Feb. 1994Translate the following passage into French:

The disturbing truth is that although three decades of lock-'em-up fever have made America the world's No. 1 jailer, there still aren't nearly enough cells to go around. The '80s zeal for harsh drug penalties has pushed the U.S. incarceration rate to 455 per 100,000 citizens and has run up an unprecedented annual tab of $21 billion for the construction of prisons and maintenance of inmates. As the nation's inmate population swells toward 1.4 million, prison officials must release career criminals to make room for first-time drug offenders. The growing public outcry against violent crime is prompting politicians to call for even stiffer, tighter and costlier sanctions. But more prisons and longer sentences likely point in only two directions: larger inmate rosters (=list) and a higher crime rate. Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, warns, "Building more prisons to address crime is like building more graveyards to address a fatal disease."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980062,00.html#ixzz1BlzaN7Xv

Race: Black males continue to be incarcerated at an extraordinary rate. Black males make up 35.4 percent of the jail and prison population — even though they make up less than 10 percent of the overall U.S population. Four percent of U.S. black males were in jail or prison last year, compared to 1.7 percent of Hispanic males and .7 percent of white males. In other words, black males were locked up at almost six times the rate of their white counterparts.

GENDER INEQUALITIES

From 1993 to 1998, the number of young males committing lone offenses has remained stable while, over the same period, the number of males who co-offended with an adult has plummetted.

Within five years, the number of young female co-offending with other youths has halved, falling to a mere 8 per thousand of the population.

For male and female juvenile offenders alike, lone offenses is the category showing the least variation.

On the whole, young males are around 8 times more likely to commit an offense than females.

How are criminal affairs presented in the press?

Emphasize / overemphasizeLay / put emphasis onStress sthgDwell upon sthgUnderscoreHighlightPut / turn the limemight onLay great store byDraw the reader’s attention on lurid details

Mind the use of insist: insist on someone’s doing sthg

The readers are made to sympathize with the victims. They are easily moved by tear-jerking stories. The journalists appeal to the readers’ tastes for lurid details and cruelty.Murders are most of the times depicted as monsters. The journalists eagerly respond to the readers’ voyeurist thrusts. The readers delight in crime stories and forensic investigations.

In the pressVictim's relatives vow to keep killer behind bars foreverNovember 27, 2007 By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Roberto Mulero was sentenced to life in prison today for the 2005 murder of a Liberian immigrant after the victim's relatives vowed to fight any parole efforts and make sure he stays behind bars forever. "Your face will never see the sunlight again as along as I am alive,'' said Festus Kromah, the uncle of Dakermu "Eugene" Kollie, who was killed at a party on Colonial Avenue in Dorchester on Dec. 18, 2005.

Mulero was convicted of second-degree murder by a Suffolk Superior Court jury. Prosecutors alleged that he stabbed Kollie because Kollie had gotten in an argument with Mulero's sister. Prosecutors said that after the stabbing Mulero handed the knife to an associate and spat on his victim.

Relatives told Suffolk Superior Court Judge Regina Quinlan today that they had fled civil war in Liberia and moved to the United States to raise children in a safe environment only to see the 23-year-old lose his life in a senseless attack. Kromah, Kollie's uncle, spoke to Mulero directly, calling him an "idiot'' for tossing away his own freedom.