Criminal Law: Cases and Materials

In Criminal Law: Cases and Materials, Sixth Edition, interesting, well-edited cases and notes address contemporary cutting-edge issues, while vivid excerpts evoke the social, political, and criminological context of criminal law.

Features that have made this book distinctive through seven editions:

• exceptional authorship—the late John Kaplan was a legendary teacher and scholar, and Robert Weisberg and Guyora Binder continue to uphold his standard of excellence
• an interdisciplinary approach that fuels class discussion and enriches study
• clear instruction on statutory construction and element analysis
• well-edited cases, dynamic materials, lucid explanations and illuminating exercises
• a logical organization that starts with the purposes and limits of punishment and proceeds through the elements of a criminal offense, homicide offenses, justification and excuse, and the rules of attribution
• cutting-edge coverage of controversial social and legal issues
• in-depth treatment of the death penalty, rape, and other forms of sexual assault

The exciting Seventh Edition heralds a cavalcade of Supreme Court decisions:

• a special section on Blakely v. Washington and Booker v. United States—how the Supreme Court’s new Sixth Amendment jurisprudence has effected sentencing laws
• new cases deciding on cutting-edge issues, including:
  • crimes of passion—the location and duration of constructive possession
  • the mental elements of offenses—arising out statutes criminalizing material support for foreign terrorist organizations
  • accomplice liability for felony murder (People v. Cavitt)
  • the death penalty (Kansas v. Marsh and Roper v. Simmons)
  • reasonable self-defense standards for subcommunities with distinctive cultures (Dixon v. United States)
  • a defendant’s due process rights to an insanity defense (Clark v. Arizon)
  • obstruction of justice laws in the corporate context (United States v. Arthur Andersen LLP)

Offering both the Model Penal Code and common-law doctrine in an interdisciplinary approach, Criminal Law: Cases and Materials, Sixth Edition, fuels class discussion and enriches your course.