Criminal Procedure Simulations: Bridge to Practice

Legal educators are beginning to recognize the need for their students to hit the ground running when they graduate. This book is designed to help students do just that. It consists of nine simulations, covering a wide array of issues arising under the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and Sixth Amendment taught in the basic Criminal Procedure course and gives students the opportunity to learn essential lawyering skills. For example, it puts students in the role of counselor, trial and oral advocate, and legal writer. Some of the chapters include role summaries and require students to present testimony before the trial court hearing the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence. Others consist of transcripts of hearings and require students to present arguments to the court.

Why a second edition? The Supreme Court has changed the law in some key areas, including whether an officer can search a cell phone as part of a search incident to lawful arrest. One new simulation involves an issue dividing lower courts: whether digital cameras are like cell phones. Importantly, two new simulations allow a full discussion of racial profiling in policing practices.