Criminal Law in Focus: [Connected eBook with Study Center] (Focus Casebook)

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Criminal Law in Focus (CLIF)provides an updated approach to the first-year criminal law casebook, with coverage and pedagogy that reflects modern criminal law practice. Alongside the traditional justificatory theories of punishment, the book considers punishment as a tool for social control, the rise of mass incarceration, and racial disparities in criminal enforcement. Using compelling cases that clearly articulate legal doctrine, this book covers core traditional offenses (like homicide and rape), as well as those that figure prominently in modern practice, but which have historically been absent from or deemphasized in the criminal law curriculum (like drug possession and property crimes). The Real Life Applications feature following each case poses a series of questions to spotlight important topics that might otherwise be overlooked, such as prosecutorial discretion and plea bargaining. Straightforward exposition helps students navigate their way around the differences and tensions between jurisdictional approaches to defining crimes and defenses.