Both professors and students have long felt the need for a concise paperback text in Criminal Justice. CRIMINAL JUSTICE: THE CORE responds to these needs: 14 chapters are appropriate for the typical one-semester course. The approach is simple and straightforward. Style and terminology are as non-technical as the subject matter permits. THE CORE is a four color text that features new full page photo bleeds with accompanying boxes covering the most up-to-date topics such as jury selection (O. J. Simpson), jury deadlocks (the Menendez trial), tracking down international criminals (Carlos the Jackal) and dealing with them (International Criminal Courts). Major changes from the full version include the following: The basics that every entering student should master before concentrating on the system itself have been condensed to two chapters; CH. 1 which presents CJ as the outgrowth of the political developments of the 20th Century and CH. 2 which explains why some people commit crimes, the prevalence, types and basic structure of crime as seen by the law. CH. 3-13 examine the policy (Part 2), courts (Part 3), and corrections (Part 4). Each chapter has been updated and fully revised, focusing on the core of each topic. In a brief final part we deal with juvenile justice.