Criminal Law: Cases and Materials

by John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder

Criminal Cases and Materials has long been respected for its distinguished authorship. The late John Kaplan’s extraordinary work continues with the scholarship of Robert Weisberg and Guyora Binder in the Ninth Edition. This casebook’s renowned interdisciplinary approach fuels class discussion as it enriches study. Logically organized, the text addresses the purposes and limits of punishment and considers the meaning and types of crime. Well-edited cases, interesting materials, and clear notes combine with cutting-edge issues and important social questions, such as whom and why we punish. Especially strong are the sections addressing the phenomenon of mass incarceration (including the movement towards prison abolition), the theme of and challenges to racial justice in our criminal law system, and the evolution of our laws on sexual assault.

New to the Ninth

Addition of up-to-date empirical and public policy research as well as expanded discussion of the role of constitutional law in the criminalization of homelessness, and issues of racial justice on such topics as criminal liability of police for use of lethal force and the controversies over citizen’s arrest powers. Incorporation of new feminist research in such areas as battered women’s self-defense and sexual assault (including treatment of the ongoing efforts to revise the Model Penal Code laws on rape). New historically informed treatment of felony murder, including legislative and judicial developments in reform and possible abolition of felony murder doctrine. Updated notes and questions aimed at improving the casebook’s usefulness for exam preparation. New case law on the challenges of applying criminal law in the Internet world on such topics as possession of child pornography images and criminal conduct through cyber-messaging. A fresh new analytic guide on “impossible attempts”, designed to assist students with this perennially challenging doctrine. Professors and student will benefit

Strong authorship The late John Kaplan, a storied teacher and scholar; Weisberg and Binder, noted scholars in criminal law An interdisciplinary approach Well-edited cases, interesting materials, and clear notes Logical organization “Snapshot Review” exercises to aid students in exam preparation. Teaching materials

Improved Teacher’s Manual designed to make casebook accessible and useful for new professors. Includes suggested answers to “Snapshot Review” questions. CasebookConnect

ONLINE E-BOOK Law school comes with a lot of reading, so access your enhanced e-book anytime, anywhere to keep up with your coursework. Highlight, take notes in the margins, and search the full text to quickly find coverage of legal topics.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS Quiz yourself before class and prep for your exam in the Study Center. Practice questions from Examples & Explanations, Emanuel Law Outlines, Emanuel Law in a Flash flashcards, and other best-selling study aid series help you study for exams while tracking your strengths and weaknesses to help optimize your study time.

Genres: Law

1195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Isabel Bridgeland · Rating 1 out of 5]

so many enemies, but none turned to lovers 💔

[Meredith Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting things to learn in this book. For example, if you are stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean with no hope of rescue and you have to eat someone, you can’t just choose the weakest link, you have to draw straws (The Queen v. Dudley & Stephens). I don’t think people on Survivor know this. It should be in the handbook, though. Also, you can only use force defensively, not for revenge. If you slash your roommate’s tires, then your roommate’s boyfriend comes to burn down your bedroom, while you’re sleeping in the loft, he isn’t defending, he’s revenging. But, while he’s lighting the fire, if you shoot him with the bow and arrows you have stashed under your pillow, that’s probably defense. But then if you jump down and try to escape and he punches you, that’s revenge again, not defense. Moral = probably not a good idea to slash your roommate’s tires. Also, why did you have a bow and arrows under your pillow? (People v. Gleghorn).

Before I get into my unsolvable criticisms of the American justice system, I’ll say about this book that it contains an incredibly interesting topic, and I really benefited from the commentaries and explanations; however, the structure is such a psych-out! It’ll introduce a case to start a topic and let you know with headers and font that it’s giving you a case. Then, it’ll go into commentaries and explanations and introduce, like, seven more cases before you get to the next topic. But the hidden cases have no font or heading alert. No, they’re in teeny-tiny font. It’s super sneaky and made me depressed about life. Learning the cases isn’t the most important part of criminal law, but still it was frusterating.

This has also made me think a lot about forms of and reasons for punishment. Theories of punishment include rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution. The thing I have the biggest problem with is the idea, which I think exists in all of the theories of punishment, that people who commit crimes are less than citizens. I’m not saying that people should be allowed to do whatever they want (insert argument here about how that would be different from the system we have now = who knows?), but sticking people in a box where the rest of us don’t have to see them doesn’t seem like it solves a lot of the problems, either. On the other hand, I’m totally in favor of sticking my emotions in a box where we don’t have to see them. It’s different. Anyway, back to marginalizing “criminals.” With rehabilitation, the state can arbitrarily hold a prisoner, saying they’re not rehabilitated. With deterrence and incapacitation, the state assumes that crimes can’t happen in prisons, that “criminals” don’t deserve protection. With retribution, the state assumes that doing evil to a “criminal” compensates for the evil the “criminal” did and that the state’s actions are somehow inherently distinct. I use the scare quotes just to point out how we think differently of people stigmatized as criminal than those we think of as citizens and neighbors.

I’m in favor of social contracts, and I get that there are things we give up and things we receive from living in society. I just wonder if the forms of punishment we have are totally effective. I mean, I would say they’re obviously not totally effective, since we still have 7.2 million people now in the U.S. incarcerated or on probation or parole, an increase of more than 290% since 1980. 7% of that population is female. “One in nine (11.7%) black males aged 25-29 was in prison or jail in 2006, as were 1 in 26 (3.9%) Hispanic males and 1 in 59 (1.7%) white males in the same age group” (p. 23). Change starts with having healthy communities and schools, I guess, but it seems like the way we punish perpetuates the bad. It seems like a large portion of Americans live in the prison population, and the statistics make it look to me like a lot of Americans are not well served by our justice system, or politics, or economic structure, or whatever it is that causes that imbalance. I don’t have helpful suggestions, I just have a lot of criticisms.

[Joseph De · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible even for a casebook. The editing is bizzarre, the organization is poor, the formatting is irrational and confusing. I found the writing really strange, it's filled with questions and unclear hypotheticals. I don't have another crim law casebook to compare to, but it was a slog to get through the reading every single time. Ugh.

[Michelle Musheyev · Rating 1 out of 5]

fuck this one guy in particular

[Allison Tinglov · Rating 1 out of 5]

The organization and format was TERRIBLE. Also all the philosophy?? Ughhhh. Def not similar to a true crime book. Not even a little bit

[Abby Moncada]

put the dissents back in for the 10th edition. my professor keeps asking me about them.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was actually a super well-written textbook (and I had prof. weisberg who wrote it so that was also fun). Best written book I've used in law school so far. My distaste for criminal law really has nothing to do with this book

[Katie Fustich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not gonna act like I didn't read this!

[Indira Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

i actually did enjoy this course

[Colleen]

hahaha

[Meghan]

yay for law school. good murder cases though. just like real-life Law & Order... yeah right.