Criminal Law The Basics [Hardcover]

Frank A. Schubert'sCriminal Law: The Basicsintroduces students to the fundamentals of substantive criminal law. It emphasizes two underlying themes. First, the common law heritage that has so influenced criminal law in this country. And, second, the critical role that federalism plays in American criminal law. The first six chapters focus on fundamental topics. In the final two chapters, students apply the concepts they have learned as they discover the elements of many substantive criminal offenses. Coverage includes:

* The common law tradition.
* Criminal and civil law.
* Federalism and the Supremacy Clause.
* Concurrence.
* Federal criminal law.
* The purposes of punishment.
* Procedural considerations.
* Constitutional limitations on the definition and punishment of criminal offenses (Bills of Attainder), sub-stantive due process (precision, privacy, morality), procedural due process ( Megan's Law ), and equal protection, ex post facto laws, and cruel and unusual punishment.
* The criminal act (act or status, voluntariness, omissions, the use of presumptions, double jeopardy considerations).
* Criminal intent (from the Common Law and Model Penal Code perspectives, including a discussion off the important role of resumptions and proof of criminal intent).
* Strict liability.
* Causation (factual, proximate, and independent, intervening causes).
* Complicity (common law and modern approaches).
* Vicarious liability (traditional approach and modern efforts to make parents criminally liable for the acts of their children).
* Inchoate crime (solicitation, attempt, and conspiracy).
* Criminal defenses (lack of capacity, self defense and defense of others and property, mistakes of fact and law, entrapment, alibi, necessity and duress).
* Substantive crimes against persons (homicide offenses, assault and battery, rape and sexual assault, kidnapping, and false imprisonment).
* Crimes against property (incl³"