Textbook on Criminal Law combines succinct focused coverage, alongside the author's respected critique and analysis of the law, judgements, and legal reform. Covering all of the topics studied on undergraduate and GDL criminal law courses the text provides the ideal balance of coverage and detail.

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.

Textbook on Criminal Law covers all of the topics studied on undergraduate, CPE, and GDL criminal law courses, combining exposition of the current state of the law with academic critique, and providing the ideal balance of coverage and detail.

A book that students find interesting and instructors consider educationally valuable, this Fifth Edition of Contemporary Criminal Law combines traditional concepts with thought-provoking cases and engaging learning tools. Taking a casebook approach, the text covers both foundational and emerging legal topics such as terrorism, gangs, cybercrime, and hate crimes, illustrated by real-life examples that students connect with. Clear explanations of criminal law and defenses are complemented by provocative, well-edited cases followed by discussion questions to stimulate critical thinking and in-class discussion. The book provides a contemporary perspective on criminal law that encourages students to actively read and analyze the text. The Fifth Edition is enhanced throughout by new cases that offer the most up-to-date coverage of evolving legal opinions and developments in criminal law. New to This Edition New cases illuminate important concepts, including decisions on criminal acts, criminal intent, parties, corporate crime, kidnapping, identity theft, computer crime, prostitution, terrorism, and more. One or more new You Decide sections in most chapters clarify concepts to illustrate the complexity of legal analysis and enhance the interactive character of the text. Additional hypothetical problems are available on the companion site. New Crime in the News features look at recent events such as the criminal trial of Dylann Roof, the dark web, and the leaking of confidential government documents to help students apply important concepts to real-world scenarios. New and expanded discussions of critical topics cover the Second Amendment and gun control, the Trump administration's stance on marijuana, sentencing guidelines, and criminal defenses.