Current Legal Issues in Criminal Justice

Description

Timely and topical, Current Legal Issues in Criminal Justice is a collection of in-depth essays on "hot-button" issues. The contributors--renowned scholars who have taught criminal justice and written extensively on legal issues--approach their material from both legal and sociological perspectives in order to give students a more nuanced understanding
of each topic. Short, framing introductions preface each article and put the material in context, and critical-thinking questions follow each chapter. Written in accessible and jargonfree--but not "dumbed-down"--language, this text investigates such relevant topics as gun control, racial profiling, private prisons, medical marijuana, surveillance technology, juvenile waiver laws, inmate litigation, drug testing, the death penalty, sex offender registration, and confessions and interrogations law.

New to this Edition

• Updated, revised, or new chapters on the most recent legal issues in criminal justice
• New pedagogical tools, including discussion questions, a list of relevant internet websites and references, and a glossary containing key terms
• An Instructor's Resource CD that includes PowerPoint Slides and a Test Bank

Table of Contents

About the Editor
About the Contributors
Preface: Craig Hemmens

Section I: Legal Issues and Police
1. Surveillance Technology and the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy: Claire Nolasco & Aneta Spaic
2. Interrogations, Law, and False Confessions: Marvin Zalman
3. The Restriction and Likely Elimination of the Exclusionary Rule: Jeffery T. Walker
4. Racial Profiling and the Law: Brian Withrow & Jeffery D. Dailey

Section II: Legal Issues and Courts
5. DNA Evidence and Wrongful Convictions: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies: Mai E. Naito & Michael Vaughn
6. The Implications of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims: Fran Bernat & Simon Zschirnt & Nicholas Godlove
7. Sentencing Reforms and the Supreme Court: Rodney L. Engen & Ronald F. Wright

Section III: Legal Issues and Corrections
8. Inmate Litigation and the Constitution: Barbara Belbot & Michael Cavanaugh
9. Sex Offender Registration, Notification, and Civil Commitment Statutes: Due Process vs. Community Safety: Barbara Sims & Megan Reynolds & Leah Taylor
10. Private Prisons and the Law: Jared Eilison & Emily Wright
11. Collateral Consequences: The "Gift" That Kepps On Giving: Valerie Bell & Leonard Decker

Section IV: Legal Issues and Juvenile Justice
12. Juvenile Waiver Laws: Benjamin Steiner
13. A Contemporary Analysis of Drug Tests, the Fourth Amendment, and the Court's Rationale for Warrantless and Suspicionless Searches: Claudia San Miguel
14. Juvenile Life Without Parole and the Juvenile Death Penalty: Taylor Brickley & Katherine Bennett

Section V: Miscellaneous Legal Issues
15. Section 1983 Litigation in Criminal Justice: Darrell Ross
16. Medical Marijuana and the States: Stacy Moak & Rocio Roles
17. Have "Three Strikes" Laws Struck Out?: Robert P. Stallings & Shannon Womer Phaneuf & Jon Cooper
18. Case Processing and Plea Bargaining: Brian Iannacchione
19. Gun Control: David Brody & Chyla Aguiar
20. The Patriot Act: Where Is It Today?: Sue Carter Collins

Glossary