This edition preserves the outstanding qualities that have earned it distinguished success:
* a highly respected authorship¿Kadish, Schulhofer, and new co-author Steiker¿comprised of nationally recognized and renowned scholars
* cohesive intellectual framework¿ by viewing the law both as a system for apportioning blame in accordance with moral norms and as an instrument of social control, it provides an analytical tool with which students can interpret and understand doctrine
* a cases-and-notes pedagogy with excerpted materials, questions, and problems
* a focus on developing an understanding of principles and rules applicable to all crimes, rather than the detailed and disjointed elements of many particular crimes
* problems that enhance student understanding of the basic principles by testing their applications and interactions in the context of particular offenses
* in-depth coverage of rape, homicide, and theft
The Eighth Edition has been carefully updated to maintain the integrity of its framework, preserve its challenging content and enhance its teachability:
* it achieves continuity with its predecessors and makes little change in organization or coverage
* most principal teaching cases have been retained, with recent cases and illustrations added
* editing throughout enhances the transparency of the organization and accessibility of the notes and questions, providing greater clarity and ease of teaching
*organization is designed to permit ready adaptation for longer or shorter courses
* a new section gives detailed attention to issues of statutory interpretation
* a new chapter on Discretion allows for study of the legal framework that governs charging, bargaining and sentencing, and the role they play in shaping determinations of culpability and punishment
* greater attention is focused on the ways that sentencing considerations and the growth of federal criminal law have affected traditional criminal law principles and practices
* new attention is focused on international human rights and their implications for American criminal law
* more thorough examination of common law vocabulary and doctrine and a clarified organization enable students to differentiate more systematically between the common law and Model Penal Code approaches
* a completely revised section on the death penalty deals more fully with contemporary debates and recent Supreme Court decisions
Table of Contents
1. Institutions and Processes
2. The Justification of Punishment
3. Defining Criminal Conduct¿The Elements of Just Punishment
4. Rape
5. Homicide
6. The Significance of Resulting Harm
7. Group Criminality
8. Exculpation
9. Theft Offenses
10. Discretion