ANGLAISCPGE.FREE.FR

1- VOCABULARY

MOT FRANÇAIS / ENGLISH WORD

The crime rate : le taux de criminalité White-collar crime : la délinquance en col blanc

Juvenile delinquency : la délinquance juvénile Petty crime : la petite délinquance

A crime, a felony : un crime An offense : un délit, une infraction

A misdemeanour : une infraction (GB), un délit (US) A repeat offender, a recidivist : un récidiviste

Manslaughter : homicide involontaire Theft : le vol

A thief, a robber : un voleur To rob sb of sth : voler qch à qn

Armed robbery : vol à main armée A burglary : un cambriolage

To mug sb, to attack sb : agresser qn Money-laundering : le blanchiment d'argent

To break the law : enfreindre la loi Lawful / unlawful : légal / illégal

Wrongdoing : des méfaits To flout the law : se moquer de la loi

A no-go area : une zone de non-droit To abide by the law : respecter la loi

The justice system : la justice A court : un tribunal

A lawyer, a barrister (GB), an attorney (US) : un avocat To prosecute sb : poursuivre qn en justice

To bring a lawsuit against sb, to sue sb : intenter un procès à qn, engager des poursuites contre qn

To charge sb with murder : accuser, inculper qn de meurtre

A charge : une accusation, un chef d'inculpation The prosecutor : le procureur

To confess a crime : avouer un crime To confess to embezzling money : avouer avoir détourné de l'argent

A defendant : un accusé, un prévenu To be tried, to stand trial : passer en jugement, être jugé

To await trial : être en attente de jugement The principle that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty : la présomption d'innocence

Forensic evidence : preuves relevées lors d'une expertise Acquittal : acquittement

To find sb guilty : condamner qn, reconnaître qn coupable To convict sb of sth : reconnaître qn coupable de qch

A conviction : une condamnation A suspended sentence : une condamnation avec sursis

Life sentence : condamnation à perpétuité Death sentence : condamnation à mort

The incarceration rate : le taux d'incarcération A prisoner / inmate / detainee : un détenu / prisonnier

A prison officer / warder (GB) : un gardien de prison Solitary confinement : isolement carcéral

Prison overcrowding : surpopulation carcérale A miscarriage of justice : une erreur judiciaire

To be proved innocent, to be exonerated : être innocenté To free / release a prisoner : libérer / relâcher un prisonnier

To pardon a convict : grâcier un condamné To parole sb : mettre qn en liberté conditionnelle

To be on parole : être en liberté conditionnelle To report to the police : se présenter à la police

An electronic tag : un bracelet de surveillance électronique A wrongdoer : un malfaiteur

VOCABULARY REVIEW CARD

CRIME

ANGLAISCPGE.FREE.FR

2- ESSENTIAL NOTES AND EXPRESSIONS

As a British Prime Minister, Tony Blair launched between 1997 and 2007 a security policy, known as “The Third Way.” Assuming that citizens had to be protected, he also reminded that most crime is coming from social inequalities. The synthesis of both observations resulted in the phrase “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime,” that could satisfy both conservative and left-wing citizens.

Even if its national anthem describes it as the “land of the free,” the US has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, with a figure of 7.5/1,000 that represents around 5.6 million Americans. The causes of this high rate cannot be clearly defined, because of the variations between the States. For example, California keeps applying a controversial law that sentences repeat offenders to 25 years or more imprisonment, as soon as they have committed two crimes after a first, “serious or violent” one.

In 2001, John Donohue and Steven Levitt, two American economists, argued that the legalization of abortion in 1973 led to a decline of crime 20 years later. Supposedly, women who aborted were poorer and would have raised their children in inappropriate conditions that could contribute to the development of violent behaviors.

With his film Minority Report of 2002, Steven Spielberg tackled the traditional philosophical question of predestination. Based on an eponymous novel by Philipp K. Dick, this movie tells the story of a policeman whose job is to arrest criminals who haven't committed a crime yet: thanks to psychic foreknowledge, he's able to determine who he has to apprehend, infringing on the individual freedom of these people.

3- TRANSLATION REMARKS

- Liberals emphasize rehabilitation, the social roots of crime and the rights of the accused, while conservatives stress deterrence, retribution and the rights of the victims. - Les gens de gauche insistent sur la réhabilitation, les causes sociales de la criminalité et les droits de l'accusé tandis que les conservateurs mettent l'accent sur la dissuasion, le châtiment et les droits des victimes.

- In California, a criminal committing a third offence may be sent to prison for life, no matter how trivial this third offence is.

- En Californie, un criminel qui enfreint la loi pour la troisième fois peut être mis en prison à perpétuité, aussi mineur que soit ce troisième délit.

- Il est soupçonné d'avoir assassiné sa femme et sera jugé la semaine prochaine. - He's suspected of murdering his wife and will be on trial next week.

- Les prisons sont surpeuplées et la violence est endémique dans nombre d'entre elles, sans parler des détenus qui se suicident. - Prisons are overcrowded and violence is rife in many of them, not to mention inmates who commit suicide.

- Voir des hommes politiques se moquer de la loi n'incite pas les jeunes à la respecter. - Seeing politicians flouting the law does not encourage young people to respect it.