Negotiating Crime

Negotiating Crime: Plea Bargaining, Problem Solving, and Dispute Resolution in the Criminal Context was the first textbook of its kind that covers all of the processes through which criminal cases are resolved in the United States beyond trials. This second edition updates the readings to reflect the very latest scholarship post pandemic and in criminal legal reform.

Negotiating Crime brings together criminal procedure, policy debates, and dispute resolution concepts to examine the practice of criminal law in the 21st century. The first half of the book is devoted to plea bargaining, covering criminal legal practice, policy concerns, and reform proposals. In addition, this section explains negotiation theory and applies it to the practice of plea bargaining. The second half of the book covers problem-solving and therapeutic justice courts, including drug courts and mental health courts, restorative justice, and juvenile justice, with a conclusion focusing on understanding criminal system design.

This book is designed to be used by criminal clinics, seminars, and workshops providing skills, theory, policy, and practice pointers to the next generation of criminal lawyers.