Decide on an appropriate punishment for the offenders in each case.

A)

A sixteen year old girl was seriously injured after being knocked off her motorcycle by a motorist. It is feared that she may never be able to walk again. The motorist failed a breathalyzer test.

B)

An innocent man was released from prison today after serving ten years of a thirty year prison sentence for murder. The man had been found guilty on false police evidence. Before leaving the court, the man’s solicitor spoke to reporters: “Thank God we don’t have capital punishment anymore,” he said.

C)

A boy and a girl were in hospital yesterday after being attacked by guard dogs. They had climbed over a factory wall to fetch their football. They were attacked while looking for the ball. “If they hadn’t been in the factory, this wouldn’t have happened,” said the owner. “My dogs were just doing their job.”

d)

A young mother appeared in court yesterday. She was charged with stealing 20 pounds worth of food from a supermarket. The woman told the court that she had stolen the food for her children. She had lost her job and had no money. [61]

Discuss:

1. Do you think people should be allowed to use a gun or a knife in self-defense?

2. If you carried a knife or a gun with you would you feel safe?

3. What measures can you take to prevent crime against yourself? (your car, flat, etc)

4. How strict are the gun control laws in your country?

5. Do you agree with those who think that guns should be banned in the US?

6. How can you comment the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution: “A well –regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”?

Listening: A Lifer Keen on Canaries

Listen to the story and fill the gaps:

Robert Franklin is an American criminal, a convicted__________, who became a self-taught ornithologist during 54 years in prison, 42 of them in_________ ____________. He became known for his contribution to the study of birds.

At the age of 13 Franklin ran away from home and, by the age of 18 was in Alaska, working as a pimp and living with a dance-hall girl. An argument over the girl led to his _________and killing a man. Pleading _______to manslaughter in 1909, he ____ _______to 12 years in a federal prison. After stabbing a fellow-prisoner and proving generally troublesome, he was transferred to Kansas where he continued to be a______, but began to educate himself, taking university extension courses. In 1916 he stabbed and killed a guard and was tried, _______and sentenced to_______, but in 1920 President Woodrow Wilson committed his sentence to ____ imprisonment in solitary confinement.

Thereafter, mostly in solitary confinement, he began raising canaries and other birds, collecting laboratory equipment, and studying the diseases of birds and their breeding and care. Some of his writings were ________ out of prison and published in 1943. Later, however, he was allowed to continue his research, but denied further right of publication. His research was considered an important work in the field of ornithology. [62]

Answer the questions:

1. Why was Franklin called troublesome?

2. How many crimes did he commit?

3. What education did he get?

4. What contribution did he make by his research?