Criminal Courts: A Contemporary Perspective

Written by three leaders in the field, this comprehensive and accessible text for undergraduate courses explores all conventional topics (court structure, courtroom actors, and the trial and appeal process) as well as others seldom covered. The text first reviews the judicial function, the role and purpose of law, sources of law, the various types of law, and the American court system structure and operations, both state and federal. The participants in the system are discussed next, followed by the pretrial, trial, and posttrial processes. A wealth of pedagogical tools adds valuable related content, ranging from the points of view of court process participants to comparative information to hotly debated topics.

Craig Hemmens is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University. He holds a JD from North Carolina Central University School of Law and a PhD in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University. Professor Hemmens has published 20 books and more than 200 articles, many dealing with legal issues in criminal justice. He currently serves as editor of the Criminal Law Bulletin and previously served as the editor of the Journal of Criminal Justice Education and as president of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. His current research interests include criminal law and procedure.

David C. Brody is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University. He received a JD from the University of Arizona College of Law and a PhD in criminal justice from the State University of New York at Albany. He is the author of casebooks on criminal law and criminal procedure, as well as scholarly articles that have been published in such journals as the American Criminal Law Review, Crime and Delinquency, Justice System Journal, and Judicature. His current research focuses on the selection and evaluation of judges, jury reform, and the interaction between law, politics, and criminal justice policy.

 

Cassia Spohn is School Director and Foundation Professor of Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. She is the author of several books, including The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America (with Sam Walker and Miriam DeLone) and How Do Judges Decide? The Search for Fairness and Equity in Sentencing. She has published a number of articles examining prosecutors’ charging decisions in sexual assault cases and exploring the effect of race/ethnicity on charging and sentencing decisions. Her current research interests include the effect of race and gender on court processing decisions, victim characteristics and case outcomes in sexual assault cases, judicial decision making, sentencing of drug offenders, and the deterrent effect of imprisonment. In 1999, she was awarded the University of Nebraska Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award.