Inside Adjudicative Criminal Procedure: What Matters and Why is ideal for students who take Adjudicative Criminal Procedure and criminal trial practice courses and clinics, as well as for students who are considering a career in criminal litigation. The book discusses all the topics that are typically discussed in the aforementioned courses, including bail, grand jury and prosecutorial decision-making, discovery, speedy trial, jury selection, trial by jury, right to counsel, double jeopardy, guilty pleas and plea bargaining, sentencing, and post-verdict trials and strategies. Each chapter describes the most critical legal concepts, and contains succinct discussions of relevant case law and statutes. The material is presented in an organized, aesthetically pleasant format which facilitates student reading and comprehension. The book, whose authors are former federal and state prosecutors with extensive professional and academic experience in adjudicative criminal procedure, is a great study aid to supplement the principal text used in any of the aforementioned courses. The book can also be used as a principal text in practice-related courses. Features: Concise description of essential principles and pertinent cases and statutes.Easy to understand content presentation.Aesthetically pleasing format which facilitates student learning.Summary of essential principles at the end of each chapter. Connections section at the end of each chapter which link chapter topics with other chapters in the book.

On February 1, 1960, four African American college students entered the Woolworth department store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and sat down at the lunch counter. This lunch counter, like most in the American South, refused to serve black customers. The four students remained in their seats until the store closed. In the following days, they returned, joined by growing numbers of fellow students. These “sit-in” demonstrations soon spread to other southern cities, drawing in thousands of students and coalescing into a protest movement that would transform the struggle for racial equality. The Sit-Ins tells the story of the student lunch counter protests and the national debate they sparked over the meaning of the constitutional right of all Americans to equal protection of the law. Christopher W. Schmidt describes how behind the now-iconic scenes of African American college students sitting in quiet defiance at “whites only” lunch counters lies a series of underappreciated legal dilemmas—about the meaning of the Constitution, the capacity of legal institutions to remedy different forms of injustice, and the relationship between legal reform and social change. The students’ actions initiated a national conversation over whether the Constitution’s equal protection clause extended to the activities of private businesses that served the general public. The courts, the traditional focal point for accounts of constitutional disputes, played an important but ultimately secondary role in this story. The great victory of the sit-in movement came not in the Supreme Court, but in Congress, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, landmark legislation that recognized the right African American students had claimed for themselves four years earlier. The Sit-Ins invites a broader understanding of how Americans contest and construct the meaning of their Constitution.

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.