Criminal Law

To view or download the 2025 Supplement to this book click here.

This book offers a comprehensive survey of the major concepts and doctrines in criminal law, describing both the common law and the Model Penal Code approaches to each issue. A unique feature of this book is that the cases used to illustrate major concepts are designed to be provocative and teachable. The facts of virtually every case lend themselves to creative teaching and lively class discussion and will stick in the memories of both instructor and students. Meanwhile, the lucidly organized notes following the cases deliver both doctrine and interesting highlights clearly and concisely.

The new edition also incorporates the most recent significant cases and scholarship, including recent application of traditional criminal law concepts in more complex "modern" contexts such as white collar crime. Special features of the book include:

• The authors discuss recent criminal law cases "in the news" as well as contemporary debates on controversial criminal law issues such as rape and capital punishment.
• The book introduces and employs theoretical perspectives in a clear and accessible way. These materials encourage students to understand and apply various approaches to criminal law issues, including liberalism, feminism, critical race theory, and victims' rights.
• Like its predecessor, this edition has detailed and inclusive coverage of modern-day property crimes, and reflects sophisticated contemporary thinking about homicide and rape.
• The book's extensive treatment of recent white collar corporate prosecutions invites consideration of the controversies that arise when traditional criminal law concepts are applied to civil and corporate disputes.
• The cases and commentaries clearly and thoroughly present the causation issues that arise in criminal cases, the crime of attempt, group criminality, and defenses.
• The authors draw attention to the intersection of civil and criminal liability, encouraging students to consider the differences between criminal law and other forms of legal regulation.