Criminal Law: The Basics, Third Edition

• ISBN: 9781454818076

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• Description

  This title is also available as an eBook on Vitalsource.com. Ebooks are offered at different price points for six-month, twelve-month, or lifetime access periods to accommodate students' varying preferences and needs.

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  This student-friendly text focuses on the basic conceptual building blocks of criminal law, covering the most important aspects of each topic and omitting information that is not essential in an introductory course. It emphasizes two underlying themes: First, the common law heritage that has so influenced criminal law in this country, and second, the critical role that federalism plays in American criminal law. The first five chapters focus on fundamental topics. In the final three chapters, students apply the concepts they have learned as they discover the elements of many substantive criminal offenses. 

  Key Features:

  • Focused, understandable, and concise text that introduces students to the fundamentals of substantive criminal law.
  • Relies primarily on carefully edited, highly readable appellate opinions coupled with brief, textual exposition to explain relevant principles, leading students to understand the "what" as well as the "why."
  • Statutes are often included so that students understand that the legislature, not the courts, primarily defines what is criminal and determines sentencing options.
  • Text reflects the authors 35-year career as a student, practitioner (police administration and prosecutor), and college teacher of criminal law to undergraduates.
  • Appendices include a guide to briefing cases and a “procedural primer” which explains the differences between bench trials to the court and jury trials and each of the stages of a criminal trial.
  • In the revised third edition, 21 of the 68 primary cases are new
  • historical review of important milestones in the development of American criminal law from the colonial era to the present has been added to Chapter One
  • An expanded discussion of self-defense that goes beyond the traditional common law approach to include “make my day” and “stand your ground” statutes can be found in Chapter 5. 
  • The discussion of federal criminal law has been expanded
• Details

  Page Count	518
  Published	10/27/2014