Author Description

This law school casebook is intended for use in a basic first year course on the substantive criminal law. The book is organized to follow the structure of a standard criminal law class, beginning with an overview of the purpose of the criminal law and cases that illustrate different methods of statutory interpretation, and then moving to mens rea, actus reus, and causation. It then turns to an in-depth discussion of homicide and rape law before covering defenses and inchoate crimes. The purpose of the book is to teach the basic concepts of criminal law, to develop and hone fundamental skills of case analysis and statutory interpretation, and to provide an awareness of the inherent difficulties in trying to control antisocial behavior through the criminal law without encroaching upon basic democratic values. This seventh edition differs from its predecessor with updated cases, a more extensive discussion of statutory interpretation, and the inclusions of more examples and hypotheticals to assist students in understanding the more complex concepts.