This casebook provides the most comprehensive treatment available, including the theoretical foundations, the common-law origins, the statutory structure, and the procedural context of modern criminal law. The book concentrates on doctrinal materials that can support both rigorous technical and sophisticated theoretical discussions. The purposes and limits of punishment are addressed through Supreme Court decisions, a focus on statutes throughout the substantive law sections enables training students in the legal art of statutory interpretation as well as exposing them to the hard moral and political problems of legislative choice, and the sentencing materials reprise the theory of punishment in the context of the practically most important stage of the modern process. The 12th edition carries forward the comprehensive approach of prior editions, empowering the teacher to design a course suited to the needs of the teacher's students and teacher's institution. New Supreme Court's decisions, changing the landscape of both substance and procedure, include Skilling v. United States, McDonald v. City of Chicago, Graham v. Florida, United States v. Jones, and Michigan v. Bryant. The material on self-defense has been comprehensively revised, both for the sake of clarity and to include discussion of so-called "stand your ground laws." Statutes (e.g., the New York and California homicide statutes) and the caselaw (e.g., up-to-the-minute material on "willful blindness") have been updated. We also now include a case about the admissibility of neuro-imaging evidence to support a diminished-capacity defense, thus acknowledging how modern brain science has begun to raise both practical evidentiary issues and a substantial challenge to important theoretical premises of the criminal law.

Providing a complete view of U.S. legal principles, this book addresses distinct issues as well as the overlays and connections between them. It presents as a cohesive whole the interrelationships between constitutional principles, statutory criminal laws, procedural law, and common-law evidentiary doctrines. This fully revised and updated new edition also includes discussion questions and hypothetical scenarios to check learning. Constitutional principles are the foundation upon which substantive criminal law, criminal procedure law, and evidence laws rely. The concepts of due process, legality, specificity, notice, equality, and fairness are intrinsic to these three disciplines, and a firm understanding of their implications is necessary for a thorough comprehension of the topic. This book examines the tensions produced by balancing the ideals of individual liberty embodied in the Constitution against society’s need to enforce criminal laws as a means of achieving social control, order, and safety. Relying on his first-hand experience as a law enforcement official and criminal defense attorney, the author presents issues that highlight the difficulties in applying constitutional principles to specific criminal justice situations. Each chapter of the text contains a realistic problem in the form of a fact pattern that focuses on one or more classic criminal justice issues to which readers can relate. These problems are presented from the points of view of citizens caught up in a police investigation and of police officers attempting to enforce the law within the framework of constitutional protections. This book is ideal for courses in criminal law and procedure that seek to focus on the philosophical underpinnings of the system.

Easily accessible to undergraduates, Significant Cases in Criminal Procedure, Second Edition, offers a clear, comprehensive introduction to criminal procedure. Rather than providing complete opinions, which may overwhelm students, the authors present case briefs, along with analyses, explanations, and short excerpts. In addition to the case summaries, the book includes lists of all of the cases it covers, both in alphabetical order and grouped by topic; a short introduction to each topic; and an index. CRIMINAL JUSTICE CASE BRIEFS SERIES Significant Cases in Criminal Procedure, Second Edition Craig Hemmens, Alan Thompson, and Lisa S. Nored (978-0-19-995791-0) Significant Cases in Corrections, Second Edition Craig Hemmens, Barbara Belbot, and Katherine Bennett (978-0-19-994858-1) Significant Cases in Juvenile Justice, Second Edition Craig Hemmens, Benjamin Steiner, and David Mueller (978-0-19-995841-2)

Law Enforcement, Policing, & Security

Virginia Criminal Law & Procedure, Second Edition is the definitive authority on criminal law in the Commonwealth of Virginia, offering comprehensive coverage of dozens of substantive crimes, plus the procedural, constitutional, & ethical issues involved in criminal practice. Author John L. Costello discusses problems encountered in pretrial, trial, & appellate practice offering valuable guidance at each stage. From arrest to appeal, Virginia Criminal Law & Procedure is the practice manual criminal lawyers in Virginia can't afford to be without.