Massachusetts's Criminal Justice System

by Lorenzo M. Boyd, Francesca Spina

Tags: State-Specific Criminal Justice Series

Table of Contents (PDF)

Teacher's Manual available

264 pp  $35.00

ISBN 978-1-61163-657-4
eISBN 978-1-5310-0352-4

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Massachusetts's Criminal Justice System takes a historic look at crime, justice, and society's response to crime. The criminal justice system in the commonwealth of Massachusetts has a long and storied history. British common law, a fugitive slave trial, the origins of probation, a high-profile execution, and first-in-the-nation policing efforts all help to guide what is now policy and practice in the criminal justice system in Massachusetts.

This book introduces students to the beginnings of policing and how it has developed into multi-jurisdictional agencies, and recounts the history of the department of corrections and the various levels of the court system in Massachusetts. The book also explains the basic foundations of criminal justice, including the evolution of the criminal justice system and crime trends in Massachusetts. The main text is supplemented with profiles of prominent practitioners and their views of the commonwealth's criminal justice system.

Also included in this book is an overview of the juvenile justice system, victim's rights, and a comprehensive look at the very real threat of terrorism and its evolution in Massachusetts. The terrorism chapter includes an overview of ideologies and the outlook of "do-it-yourself" terrorists, as well as overall trends and patterns. The book concludes with a discussion of employment trends and the future of criminal justice in Massachusetts. This book will help students become critical consumers of information as they map out their future as change agents in the criminal justice system.

The following Teaching Materials are available:

  • Multiple-choice test bank in Word and Blackboard-compatible files available.
  • Other LMS formats may be available through Respondus.
  • A set of 152 PowerPoint slides is available upon adoption of this book. Click here to view a sample presentation.

If you are a professor using this book for a class, please contact Beth at bhall@cap-press.com to request your slides and Test Bank.


About the State-Specific Criminal Justice Series:

One drawback with many current books is that they pertain to the really non-existent “American” criminal justice system and ignore the local landscape. Each state has deliberately designed its own legislature, executive branch, law enforcement system, court and appellate review system, state supreme court, correctional system, and juvenile justice apparatus. Since many criminal justice students embark upon careers in their home states, they are better served by being exposed to their own state criminal justice system.

Texts in this series are designed to be primary texts or as supplements to more general introduction to criminal justice texts.

Comp Copy If you are a professor teaching in this field you may request a complimentary copy.