Cases And Problems In Criminal Procedure

Rev. ed. of: Cases and problems in criminal law / Myron Moskovitz. 5th ed. c2003.

Criminal Law: Problems, Statutes, and Cases combines effective, innovative teaching methods, such as the use of problems and visual materials, with cases, including recent opinions on bias intimidation, possession of child pornography, threatening speech on social media, and theft of computer code. Key features include: A problem methodology. The book incorporates problem methodology with extensive use of problems, many based on recent cases. A statutory approach. A primary goal of the book is teaching skills in interpreting and, to a lesser degree, writing statutes. Visual materials. Visual materials include: (1) diagrammed crimes; (2) graphic exercises, such as having students create a timeline to compare and contrast various tests for the conduct element in attempt; and (3) video clip recommendations from a wide range of movies and TV shows such as The Wire and Breaking Bad.

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.

View or download the free 2015 Online Supplement for this product. Cases and Problems in Criminal Procedure: The Courtroom focuses on procedural issues that arise in the prosecution stage of a criminal case. This casebook attempts to recreate for law students the experience that lawyers have when analyzing the procedural issues involved in the investigatory phase of a criminal case. This approach not only enhances learning but also makes learning enjoyable since students get to play lawyer. At the outset of each chapter, a complex problem is presented in the form of a memo to a law clerk working in a variety of settings (reporting to a public defender, prosecutor, judge or private criminal defense attorney). Many of the problems have been modified to reflect recent cases. The problem is followed by the research tools--relevant cases and statutes--necessary to solve the problem. Notes follow many cases, suggesting to students how the cases might be used to analyze the problem. They also contain summaries of cases which may give students a broader perspective on how courts are handling the issues raised by the main cases. This casebook is supplemented annually, and a Teacher's Manual is available to professors.

This engaging and accessible book focuses on high-profile criminal trials and examines the strategy of the lawyers, the reasons for conviction or acquittal, as well as the social importance of these famous cases.

Students today expect learning to be both efficient and interesting. They use online materials and study aids to supplement class-assigned materials and to "hack" the law. This textbook cuts out the middle person by integrating challenging principal cases that are aggressively edited into an engaging overview of the black letter law. The explanatory sections describe the law through lively language and colorful examples that students can readily grasp and remember. Providing students with a clear doctrinal overview permits the selection of cases that drill down deeper into fundamental or cutting-edge issues. Many of the principal cases put the old wine of the criminal law into new bottles that students will find meaningful and interesting. In addition to homicide, rape, assault, traditional property crimes and drug offenses, the cases selected include environmental and white collar crime, obstruction of justice, criminal copyright infringement, hate crimes, sex trafficking, online threats, revenge porn and computer crimes. Short discussion questions follow each case that stimulate understanding of the holding and the deeper issues at stake. Additional materials raise important critical perspectives dealing with issues of race, class and gender. Practice problems and links to online video clips allow students to apply what they are learning, and the appendix contains numerous materials for engaging lawyering exercises.