Description
Criminal Law offers a unique hybrid approach to learning criminal law. Most textbooks oversimply the law by presenting the "black letter law" for major and defenses, but they rarely present any corresponding exploration of the gray areas that exist beyond the basic rules of law. Conversely, casebooks present numerous edited judicial opinions, often with context. Criminal Law takes the best from each of these approaches by merging textual pedagogy and case analyses into a coherent framework that includes legal history, social context, and public policy.Taking a historical approach, legal expert Henry F. Fradella presents the law as it evolved from English common law and compares it with the modern statutory approach to crimes set forth in the American Law Institute's highly influential Model Penal Code. After providing such comparative pedagogy for each crime or defense, Criminal Law presents 1-2 edited cases that allow the reader to contrast how the "black letter law" plays out in the real world. After each case, a series of questions challenge students to engage in critical thinking about the case and its implications as precedent. Finally, chapters contain a number of additional pedagogical features that focus on public policy concerns and statutory interpretation skills using penal laws from a variety of U.S. states.
Table of Contents
PrefaceChapter One: Introduction to Criminal Law and PunishmentChapter Two: Constitutional Restraints on CriminalizationChapter Three: Evidence, Acts, and OmissionsChapter Four: Intent and CausationChapter Five: Solicitation, Faciliation, and AttemptChapter Six: Aiding and Abetting, Obstructing Justice, and ConspiracyChapter Seven: HomicideChapter Eight: RapeChapter Nine: Other Sex CrimesChapter Ten: Other Crimes Against the PersonChapter Eleven: Theft, Robbery, and Crimes Against PropertyChapter Twelve: Public Order Offenses and Crimes Against the StateChapter Thirteen: Defense That Negate or Mitigate Mens Rea and Procedural DefensesChapter Fourteen: Defense of ExcuseChapter Fifteen: Defenses of JustificationIndex
