U nit 3. Prison life

TASK 1. Read the follounng text and write down Russian equivalents for sentences given in bold type:

Among the 'pains of imprisonment' that both male and female inmates face are, in the first place, the deprivation of liberty and the loneliness and boredom of imprisonment. Second, prisoners are deprived of all goods and services from the outside world. Stripped of possessions, they often equate their material lasses with personal inadequacy. The third deprivation for the majority is the absence of heterosexual relationships. Fourth, prisoners are subjected to vast body of institutional regulations designed to control every aspect of behaviour.

In part this control forms the deprivation of freedom that is the essence of imprisonment, and in part it is necessary adjunct as a means of maintaining security, controlling the introduction of weapons, contraband substances and preventing escapes.

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M ost prisons limit the number of visits that a prisoner may receive from his family or friends. Visits normally take place within the sigh* of an officer, and in ноте cases within his hearing. In many prisons, visits are conducted with the prisoner sitting on one side of the table and his visitor on the other, with a wire mesh partition between them; the visitor may be searched for contraband.

Prisoners may write and receive letters and may make telephone calls. Correspondence of prisoners is usually subject to censorship by the prison authorities, and prisoners may not write more than one letter each week. Privileges include a personal radio, books, periodicals and newspapers. They also have an opportunity to watch television (in many prisons each prisoner has a TV-set), and to make purchases from the prison shop with money earned in prison.

Control of the prison is maintained by a number of disciplinary sanctions, which may include forfeiture of privileges, confinement within a punishment block or cell, or the loss of remission or good time (time deducted from ihe sentence as a reward for good behaviour). Typically, the prohibited offences include mutiny and violence to officers; escaping, or being absent from a place where the prisoner is required to be and possessing unauthorised articles.

TASK B. Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions arid reproduce the context in which they were used:

« body of institutional regulations

« contraband substance

* forfeiture of privileges

a personal inadequacy

« to be stripped of possessions

9 to control the introduction of weapons

e to possess unauthorised articles

TASK 3. Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following words and expressions;

1. лишение свободы

2. бунт, мятеж

Chapter V₄ Imprisonment: Retribution or Rehabilitation? 1(57

3. з ак,шочённый

4. обыск, досмотр

5- подлежать цензуре

TASK 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What deprivations do prisoners suffer?

2. What is the aim of controlling every aspect of prisoner's life?

3. What are the institutional regulations far visits that prisoners may receive?

4. What rights do prisoners have?

5. What disciplinary sanctions are imposed to maintain security in prison?

TASK 5. Bead the text and answer the following questions. Write down Russian equivalents for seiitences given in bold type,

L What rights do prisoners enjoy in Europe and the United States?

2. What have you learned about Habeas Corpus and mandamus?

2. Why are the courts now willing to limit prisoners' access to the federal courts in the United States?

P risoners' Rights

The idea that a pi-isonor has rights that may be protected by actions in the courts has been developed in Europe and the United States. In England, in the absence of a written constitution, prisoners resorting to the courts have relied on the general principles of administrative law, which require fair procedures by disciplinary bodies. Although many actions brought by prisoners have been unsuccessful, prison disciplinary procedures have been improved as a result of such litigation.

under the provisions of the U.S. Constitution (notably the Eighth

In the U.S. actions brought

AMENDMENT S

л ^u т^ +. -и л~. + \ Excessive bail shall not bo

^ ы ЛиТ amendments _{iredt nor excessive iines}

establish that prisoners are entitled _{imposed> nor Cl}._uei _and to the protection of the unusual punishments inflicted. Constitution. Early U.S. court decisions ruled that prisoners had

forfeited all of the rights enjoyed by free citizens. Eventually, the courts recognised certain rights and legal remedies available to

1GS Just English. Английский для юристов

p risoners_t who may now file their own suits, have direct access to thy federal courts, and file writs of Habeas Corpus and mandamus, Under Habeas Corpus the prisoner may request release, transfer, or another remedy for some aspect of confinement. IVEandamus is

_y ™— _N a command issue by a

AMENDMENT 14

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or Immunities of citizens o£ the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws-

court directing a prison administrator to carry out a legal responsibility — to provide a sick prisoner with medical care, for example — or to restore to the prisoner rights that have been illegally denied, Prisoners have sought remedies for many problems, including relief from unreasonable searches, release from solitary confinement, and the procuring of withheld mail. Recent decisions have indicated, however, that the courts are now willing to limit legal writs by prisoners in deference to the security requirements of the prison.

TASK 6. Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following words and expressions:

1. судебный процесс, судебное дело

2. предписание Хабеас Корпус

3. судебный приказ нижестоящему суду или должностному

4. тюремное заключение

5. необоснованный обыск

6. предъявить иск; возбудить судебное дело (2)

7. восстанавливать в правах

8. добиваться судебной защиты

TASK 7. Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions:

a to resort to the court

« to forfeit a right

» release from solitary confinement

e • procuring of withheld mail

e prison security requirements

Chapter V. Imprisonment: Retribution or Rehabilitation? 169

T ASK 8. Read the articles below and point out the opposite views on prison facilities:

Criticism of Jail TV

The UK Government has been in cells are not consistent with

accused of going "soft on crime" that, We think it's soft on

for considering a proposal to allow criminals."

thousands of prisoners to have

televisions in their cells. The former Home Secretary,

Michael Howard, said; "Televisions

The Home Office has asked the in ceils could provide a calming

Prison Service to investigate the influence and a powerful

issue to try to defuse tensions in incentive to good conduct It could

Britain's overcrowded jails- Prison also be used for educational and

Service officials said no decisions communication purposes." had been made and said it was

weighing up the'pros and cons'of Deputy director of the Prison

the scheme. Reform Trust, Nick Flyrm, said:

"It's a delicate matter and it

Home Affairs spokesman, James shouldn't be used for prisoners to

Clappison, said: "We think prison sit around to watch football. But

conditions should be decent and it could be a useful tool for the

austere and prisons should be a Prison Service to give information

punishment. We think televisions to prisoners/'

A Manicure for Jack the Шррег at the Killers' Health Club

Some of Britain's most notorious they are either mentally ill or

killers and rapists are being criminally insane, offered the luxury of beauty

therapy. They can enjoy facials, Hospital authorities said that the

manicures and pedicures at facilities available to inmates

Ashworth maximum security ''especially benefited those with

hospital's new Health and Beauty low self-esteem or who found it

Center club. The 650 male and difficult to relax.¹' female patients can also enjoy a

sauna, solarium and massage area Among the 'clients of the Club is

at the mental hospital near _a knifeman who attacked 10

Liverpool, people and is now pleading for

access to a fully equipped gym,

These inmates have avoided and a sadistic rapist undergoing

prison because the courts decided aromatherapy treatment.

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D ISCUSSION

Using the vocabulary and facts from the articles above discuss the following;

» Prison conditions should be decent and austere and prisons

should be a punishment. * Prison facilities provide a calming influence and a powerful

incentive to good conduct

T ASK 9, Read the text below and uxite dotvn a list of problems that prison inmates face:

The international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights declares that "ail persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person". However, in reality all over the world, hundreds of thousands of people are being held in prisons that are: squalid, overcrowded, dilapidated, insanitary, inhumane, unjust, very expensive and ineffective in tackling crime. In many countries, conditions are so bad that prisoners die from malnutrition, diseases, aLtacks from other prisoners or prison staff, or suicide- Under extremely overcrowded and insanitary conditions, diseases such as tuberculosis and dysentery spread very rapidly, and without medical treatment they may easily be fatal.

At the same time there is a small number of people who present such a danger to the community or to themselves that they need to be detained. However, for most offences, imprisonment is not an effective penalty. Many countries which may have very high prison populations have very high crime rates. This shows that prison is probably not deterring many people from crime. Whilst in prison, the attitudes of minor offenders may harden as they mix with those convicted of more serious crimes. This often leads to minor offenders committing more serious crime after they are released from prison.

Large amounts of money are spent on locking people up, even when prison staff are poorly paid, buildings are not maintained and prisoners are treated inadequately.

In many countries, prison populations have been increasing substantially over recent years. Most prisoners are young, poor, urban men. Locking up this section of the general population for

Chapter V. Imprisonment: Retribution or Rehabilitation? 171

s ubstantial periods has a destabilising effect on the whole uf society in the longer term.

TASK 10, Find in the text above the English equivalent:; for the following words and expressions:

1. высокий уровень преступности

2. лицо, совершившее малозначительное правонарушение

3. аффективная мера наказания

4. удержать от совершения преступления Ь. посадить, 'упрятать¹ в тюрьму

6. освободить из тюрьмы

TASK 1L Complete the text using the words from the bar:

r estraint; release date; recidivism; rehabilitate; preventive

C riticism of the present prison system of punishment has focused mainly on its rehabilitative and _________ functions-Critics point out that _________ — the commission of another

c rime after the offender has served a sentence for the first time — is high. Thus the system seems ineffective as a cure for, or a

upon, those factors in offenders which may lead to

y p p y

to effect a cure in, or , an offender. Many crimimdogists

insist that there is no adequate body to demonstrate that any punishment, capital punishment included, has a restraining effect on potential criminal behaviour.

criminal acts. Furthermore, because there is no way to predict the future behaviour of individuals, the length of sentence and the may have no relationship to the prison time