Providing a complete view of U.S. legal principles, this book addresses distinct issues as well as the overlays and connections between them. It presents as a cohesive whole the interrelationships between constitutional principles, statutory criminal laws, procedural law, and common-law evidentiary doctrines. This fully revised and updated new edition also includes discussion questions and hypothetical scenarios to check learning. Constitutional principles are the foundation upon which substantive criminal law, criminal procedure law, and evidence laws rely. The concepts of due process, legality, specificity, notice, equality, and fairness are intrinsic to these three disciplines, and a firm understanding of their implications is necessary for a thorough comprehension of the topic. This book examines the tensions produced by balancing the ideals of individual liberty embodied in the Constitution against society’s need to enforce criminal laws as a means of achieving social control, order, and safety. Relying on his first-hand experience as a law enforcement official and criminal defense attorney, the author presents issues that highlight the difficulties in applying constitutional principles to specific criminal justice situations. Each chapter of the text contains a realistic problem in the form of a fact pattern that focuses on one or more classic criminal justice issues to which readers can relate. These problems are presented from the points of view of citizens caught up in a police investigation and of police officers attempting to enforce the law within the framework of constitutional protections. This book is ideal for courses in criminal law and procedure that seek to focus on the philosophical underpinnings of the system.

"Based on his popular Illustrated Guide to Law webcomic series, Nathaniel Burney debunks all of the popular myths about criminal law that get repeated on street corners, in locker rooms, and on websites every day -- all of them wrong. He teaches everything you never learned about the law. Not just what the law is, but why it's like that and how it works. The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law is a complete law school course that keeps the laughter in manslaughter. You start with the absolute basics (what is crime?) and are soon deep in complex concepts like conspiracy, self-defense, and yes, entrapment -- all explained with clarity, humor, and passion"--From publisher's description.

Essential Criminal Law, Second Edition equips students with a foundational and practical understanding of criminal law in the United States, as well as encourages strong legal reasoning skills for students with no prior exposure to case law. Award-winning professor and bestselling author Matthew Lippman guides students through the complexities of the legal system using thought-provoking examples of real-life crimes and legal defenses, along with highly approachable case analyses. Updated with the most current developments in criminal law and public policy, the Second Edition takes students beyond the classroom and prepares them to apply criminal law in today’s legal world.

Were you looking for the book with access to MyLawChamber? This product is the book alone, and does NOT come with access to MyLawChamber. Buy Criminal Law, 5e by William Wilson with MyLawChamber access card 5e (ISBN 9781292002019) if you need access to the MyLab as well, and save money on this brilliant resource. Trusted by generations of students, the Longman Law Series is guaranteed to spark your academic curiosity and provide you with the best possible basis for your legal study. Using a range of problematic case scenarios this text provides a Coherent and theoretical analysis of Criminal Law. MyLab and Mastering from Pearson improve results for students and educators. Used by over ten million students, they effectively engage learners at every stage. For educator access, contact your Pearson Account Manager. To find out who your Account Manager is, visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/replocator