Criminal Law: An Introduction to Key Concepts and Cases - Softcover

Fradella, Professor In And Associate Director Of The School Of Criminology And Criminal Justice Henry F

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0190682477 ISBN 13: 9780190682477

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2022

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Henry F. Fradella is Professor in and Associate Director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University, where he also holds affiliate appointments as Professor of Law and as a core faculty member in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program on law and behavioral science. Dr. Fradella researches substantive and procedural criminal law, the dynamics of legal decision-making, and the consequences of changes in legal processes.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0190682477
• ISBN 13: 9780190682477
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528