Criminal Procedure Law

Written for the undergraduate criminal procedure course, Criminal Procedure Law: Police Issues and the Supreme Court presents the criminal procedural process in a logical progression, from police identification and the initial investigation through the arrest and pretrial process. Every step of the process is important: how an officer handles an initial stop, frisk, search, and how subsequent questioning will be scrutinized later in court. Whether evidence is admissible depends greatly on how the officers gathered it and how they respond to the persons that they investigate. Ideal for criminal justice students and practitioners, this text presents the subject in a clear, easy-to-read format with practical contemporary examples and applications of important constitutional criminal procedure principles. By presenting case abstracts on, and discussions of important U.S. Supreme Court cases pertaining to criminal processes and policing, Criminal Procedure Law: Police Issues and the Supreme Court provides an in-depth analysis of critical issues on criminal procedure. Such issues include racial profiling, detention of enemy combatants, interrogation of young children suspects, and searches of private dwellings and places (e.g., computers and cell phones). With this text students will understand the critical distinctions made by the U.S. Supreme Court in articulating the law of criminal procedure and how and why the police can or cannot perform their duties in criminal investigations. By clearly explaining the rules, rationale, and exploring current controversies, this text will prepare students for a career in criminal law. Key Features: -Features an easy-to-read format and logical progression of the material, in that it is organized in accordance with the manner in which the police investigate crime and proceed to arrest suspects. By following a situation as the police process a case, students will better understand the decision making process and why police action is going to be considered lawful or unlawful. -Thoroughly explains the distinctions among and between critical stages in the criminal processing of a case, suspect or offender (e.g. car search vs. search of a car incident to an arrest). -Provides case abstracts of important U.S. Supreme Court cases pertaining to criminal processes and policing. -Each chapter includes a summary with main points and a glossary of key legal terms. -Chapters conclude with current social controversies (e.g., racial profiling and automobile stops) in criminal procedure law.