Introduces the concept of crime and addresses key issues such as how we measure criminality, its variety, and
the justifications we employ for punishing it. The book also discusses processing institutions: police, prosecutor,
defense attorney, courts, sentencing and corrections. The book defines the relationships among these institutions
and illustrates the relationships with examples.
Materials in the book include cases and statutes, the writings and commentary of legal scholars, articles by social
scientists and humanists, newspaper editorials and reports by criminal justice practitioners.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Crime
Chapter 2. Why Punish Crimes?
Chapter 3. An Overview of the Criminal System
Chapter 4. The Police
Chapter 5. Constitutional Rights and the Exclusionary Rule
Chapter 6. The Role of the Attorney
Chapter 7. Pretrial release and Detention
Chapter 8. The Trial
Chapter 9. The Guilty Plea
Chapter 10. The Correctional Enterprise
Chapter 11. Sentencing
Chapter 12. Capital Punishment
