Product Description
This law school casebook is intended for use in a basic course on the substantive criminal law. The major emphasis in this casebook is upon what is usually referred to as the “general part” of the criminal law, mental state and act, responsibility, justification and excuse, inchoate crimes and liability for the conduct of another. There is also special emphasis upon the actual and potential contributions of the legislative branch in resolving the difficult policy qu… More >>
Modern Criminal Law: Cases, Comments And Questions
Tags: Cases, Comments, Criminal, Modern, Questions
#1 by V. Calhoon on March 27, 2010 - 11:19 pm
I was not expecting to focus so much on mental states in criminal law, and thought we would start with elements of crimes (similar to learning about intentional torts). However, as the description indicates, this book focuses a lot on mental states, etc. As a first-year law student, I find this to be one of my least favorite textbooks. Perhaps criminal law cases are difficult by their nature since there are often constitutional issues, but the notes after the cases do little to clear some of the fog. One other annoying aspect of this book is the tiny margins (3/4 of an inch!), which make it hard to write notes in the cases as you’re reading them. I think the concepts are becoming clearer, but this book could have done a better job shepherding students through introductory criminal law.
Rating: 3 / 5