With this collection of essays, Jack Kamerman presents the first sustained examination of one of the underpinnings of the operation of the criminal justice system: the issue of responsibility for actions and, as a consequence, the issue of accountability.

The meaning of criminal responsibility emerged in early- to mid-twentieth-century Canadian capital murder cases through a complex synthesis of socio-cultural, medical, and legal processes. Kimberley White places the negotiable concept of responsibility at the centre of her interdisciplinary inquiry, rather than the more fixed legal concepts of insanity or guilt. In doing so she brings subtlety to more general arguments about the historical relationship between law and psychiatry, the insanity defence, and the role of psychiatric expertise in criminal law cases. Through capital murder case files, White examines how the idea of criminal responsibility was produced, organized, and legitimized in and through institutional structures such as remissions, trial, and post-trial procedures; identity politics of race, character, citizenship, and gender; and overlapping narratives of mind-state and capacity. In particular, she points to the subtle but deeply influential ways in which common sense about crime, punishment, criminality, and human nature shaped the boundaries of expert knowledge at every stage of the judicial process. Negotiating Responsibility fills a void in Western socio-legal history scholarship and provides an essential point of reference from which to evaluate current criminal law practices and law reform initiatives in Canada.

Bringing together established and emerging scholars from around the world, the Research Handbook on Plea Bargaining and Criminal Justice examines the practice of plea bargaining, through which guilty pleas are secured and trials are avoided.

The book compares the bargaining practice in the United States and Germany, it displays differences and similarities, also taking historical as well as legal and cultural aspects into consideration. The author shows that bargaining in both countries is highly influenced by the respective legal systems - common and civil law. The study also pays attention to current developments, changes and proposed legislation.

Review: "More than 100 scholars contributed to this carefully researched, well-organized, informative, and multi-disciplinary source on death studies. Volume 1, "The Presence of Death," examines the cultural, historical, and societal frameworks of death, such as the universal fear of death, spirituality and varioius religions, the legal definition of death, suicide, and capital punishment. Volume 2, "The Response to Death," covers such topics as rites and ceremonies, grief and bereavement, and legal matters after death."--"The Top 20 Reference Titles of the Year," American Libraries, May 2004.

This revised and expanded third edition offers a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the criminal justice system of England and Wales. Starting with an overview of the main theories of the causes of crime, this book explores and discusses the operation of the main criminal justice agencies including the police, probation and prison services and the legal and youth justice systems. This book offers a lively and critical discussion of some of the main themes in criminal justice, from policy-making and crime control to diversity and discrimination to the global dimensions of criminal justice, including organized crime and the role of the EU. Key updates to this new edition include: increased discussion of the measurement, prevention and detection of crime; a revised chapter on the police which discusses the principle of policing by consent, police methods, power and governance as well as the abuse of power; further discussion of pressing contemporary issues in criminal justice, such as privatization, multi-agency working and community-based criminal justice policy; a brand new chapter on victims of crime, key developments in criminal justice policy, and the response of the criminal justice system. This accessible text is essential reading for students taking introductory courses in criminology and criminal justice. A wide range of useful features includes review questions, lists of further reading, timelines of key events and a glossary of key terms.

Hailed as the most engaging and accessible introductory text available, Exploring Criminal Justice provides a clear, complete, and credible introduction to the U.S. criminal justice system. Using an easy-to-follow, attention-grabbing writing style, this text explains the overarching processes and purposes of the criminal justice system. The functions of each component—police, courts, corrections—and the relationships between them are described in detail while rich and captivating pedagogy encourages students to think about how each component affects their daily lives. This thoroughly up-to-date text provides contemporary data, case studies, and references for all topics. Exploring Criminal Justice devotes an entire chapter to the emerging crimes of terrorism and cybercrime and the role these controversial topics play in the modern criminal justice system. Special attention is also given to juvenile offenders and issues relating to women and minorities. In addition, this text provides thorough integration of criminological theory and policy as it presents both historical context and current features of the U.S. criminal justice system.

Criminal Procedures: Prosecution and Adjudication, by Marc Miller, Ronald Wright, Jenia Turner, and Kay Levine, focuses on the interactions among multiple institutions in shaping the law of Criminal Procedure, bringing state courts, legislatures, prosecutor offices, and public defenders into the picture alongside the U.S. Supreme Court. Buy a new version of this textbook and receive access to the Connected eBook with Study Center on CasebookConnect, including: lifetime access to the online ebook with highlight, annotation, and search capabilities; practice questions from your favorite study aids; an outline tool and other helpful resources. Connected eBooks provide what you need most to be successful in your law school classes. In Criminal Procedures: Prosecution and Adjudication: Cases, Statutes, and Executive Materials, the highly respected author team presents a student-friendly, comprehensive survey of the laws and practices at work between the time a person is charged and the moment when the courts hear an appeal after the offender’s conviction and sentence. In the Sixth Edition, the authors retain the vitality and contemporary approach of the book with an updated selection of cases, statutes, and office policies. Covering in detail the “bail-to-jail” portions of the criminal process, this casebook features extensive use of documents from multiple institutions including U.S. Supreme Court cases, state high court cases, state and federal statutes, rules of procedure, and prosecutorial policies; a real-world perspective that focuses on high-volume issues of current importance to defendants, lawyers, courts, legislators, and the public; interdisciplinary examination of the impact that different procedures have on the enforcers, lawyers, courts, communities, defendants, and victims; points of comparison between U.S. practices and the systems at work in other countries; and frequent use of Problems to give the instructor options for applying concepts and doctrines in realistic practice settings. New to the 7th Edition: Coverage of declination and plea negotiation policies in the offices of “progressive prosecutors.” Enhanced coverage of the operation of state speedy trial statutes in high-volume courts. Fresh evaluation of historical trends and current practices in plea bargaining. Coverage of recent rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court on jury selection and unanimous jury verdicts. Professors and students will benefit from: Materials that support class discussion, including criminal justice actors beyond the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: the vision is “street-level federalism.” Materials that give students a nuanced portrait of current practices in criminal justice rather than a rushed historical narrative about doctrinal trends. Supporting website that offers exemplar documents, recent news with relevance for criminal procedure, and brief video lectures to introduce each major unit. Emphasis on high-volume practical issues in criminal procedure instead of intricate but rarely-encountered questions. Intuitive organization – tracking the typical order of events in criminal court – that makes it easy to see connections among different areas of the law.