Author Description

This casebook offers both theoretical and practical treatment of criminal law, which helps students to understand the underlying principles and to relate them to real-life situations. Criminal Law introduces students to the criminal justice system, raises the question of why and how we punish, and provides a framework for classroom discussion of the relationship between the state and the individual. It covers a broad range of topics including many cutting-edge issues such as efforts by cities to prosecute homeless people for sleeping in public areas, assisted suicide, conspiracy and multiple defendant trials, rape (including date rape and marital rape), attempted murder based on biting / spitting by AIDS patients, "stand your ground" statutes, and battered victim syndrome.