Criminal Procedure: Undergraduate Edition Author:

(1 review)

Christopher E. Smith, East Lansing, MI

Ben Trachtenberg, East Lansing, MI

Anne Alexander, Columbia, MO

ISBN 13: 9781626101203

Publisher: Michigan State University

Language: English

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Reviews

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Reviewed by Roxie Supplee, Assitant Professor/Program Director, Central Oregon Community College on 11/6/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This is an extremely comprehensive text. All areas of criminal procedure are accurately and thoroughly explained. I am considering this text for an undergrad class on search and seizure. I really like the concise but accurate nature of the case law that is explained. My only concern about this text at all are the large chunks of text without any headings, bullets or other visual elements. It might be better in a paper version where you can mark in the margins, but this book is difficult to read on the screen. If each case that was explained had consistent bullets like the ones below this book would be exactly what I need!

-Narrative
-Opinion of the Court
-Discussion
-Notes and Comments

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Very accurate. Cases used and explained properly.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Case law is always evolving but the text is written in a way that future updates can be made to specific cases and doctrines. Well done!

Clarity rating: 5

Very clear and well written. Combines judicial decisions and opinions with plain language.

Consistency rating: 4

Text is consistent in from chapter to chapter and students know what to expect chapter after chapter.

Modularity rating: 3

While section 3 is case law which does not lend itself to Modularity it could be better broken-up by some headings or other visual breaks. Especially reading the online version of this text it is a bit hard to follow. Consider bullet points in the Notes, Comments and Questions sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I really enjoyed the way this text is organized. It is easy to use in that each amendment is and doctrine has its own section. I do wonder it instead of 8 sections of warrant exception sections the authors could have labeled those for clarity ie exigent circumstances, arrest, consent, etc. Despite wishing for different labels these sections are excellent!

Interface rating: 2

See above...please break up the text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Still a few typos and grammatical errors. See "A few Recent Cases" still some spacing issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Inclusive and written from a neutral voice.

Notices and Recommended Citation
Disclaimer
About CALI eLangdell Press
About the Authors
Notices and Permissions
Image Credits
I. Introduction
II. Why Is Criminal Procedure So Important?
III. Key Cases for Incorporation (Nationalization) of the Bill of Rights
IV. Fourth Amendment: What Is a Search?
V. Fourth Amendment: What Is a Search? Some Specifics
VI. Fourth Amendment: What Is a Search? More Specifics
VII. Fourth Amendment: Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion
VIII. Fourth Amendment: Seizures and Arrests
IX. Fourth Amendment: Warrants
X. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Permissible Warrantless Search Situations)
XI. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 2)
XII. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 3)
XIII. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 4)
XIV. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 5)
XV. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 6)
XVI. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 7)
XVII. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 8)
XVIII. Fourth Amendment: Warrant Exceptions (Part 9)
XIX. Fourth Amendment: Stop and Frisk
XX. Fourth Amendment: Reasonable Suspicion
XXI. Interrogations: Due Process and the Voluntariness Requirement
XXII. Interrogations: The Miranda Rule
XXIII. Interrogations: What Is Custody?
XXIV. Interrogations: The Miranda Rule—Waiver
XXV. Interrogations: The Miranda Rule: Exceptions
XXVI. Interrogations: Sixth Amendment: The Massiah Rule
XXVII. Introduction to the Exclusionary Rule
XXVIII. When Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply?
XXIX. Exclusionary Rule: Suppression Hearings and Monetary Damages
XXX. Sixth Amendment: Right to Counsel
XXXI. Sixth Amendment: Right to Counsel
XXXII. Identification: Right to Counsel
XXXIII. Identification: Best Practices and State Approaches
XXXIV. Plea Bargaining
XXXV. Sixth Amendment: Speedy Trial
XXXVI. Sixth Amendment: Trial by Jury
XXXVII. Eighth Amendment Issues
Appendix

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About the Book

An open textbook for undergraduate Criminal Procedure courses that are typically required of criminal justice majors. The book uses U.S. Supreme Court opinions to illuminate the definition of rights concerning search and seizure, right to counsel, and other aspects of the criminal justice process. This open textbook seeks to make undergraduates familiar with judicial reasoning as well as the definitions of rights relevant to individuals who are drawn into contact with criminal justice officials. The chapters give significant attention to police procedures and individual rights under the Fourth Amendment related to searches, including those using warrants and the situations in which warrant searches are permissible. The book also covers rights in the context of police interrogation, including Miranda warnings and exceptions to the Miranda rule. In addition, there is coverage of the exclusionary rule, right to counsel, plea bargaining, and trial rights. It concludes with a brief examination of rights related to sentencing. This resource challenges undergraduates to understand the development and changes affecting rights as new decisions are issued by the U.S. Supreme Court.

About the Contributors

Authors

Christopher E. Smith is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Prior to joining the Michigan State University faculty in 1994, he spent seven years as a faculty member in the University of Akron’s Department of Political Science. He is the author of two dozen books and more than 130 scholarly articles and book chapters on constitutional law, courts, and public policy.

Among other awards, he is the recipient of the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award (1997) and the Outstanding Teaching Award for the MSU College of Social Science (2012), as well as MSU School of Criminal Justice “Wall of Fame” inductee honors (2021).

Professor Smith earned his AB in Government from Harvard University and his MSc in Social Sciences from the University of Bristol (England). He is an Order of the Coif graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, and he earned his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Connecticut.

Ben Trachtenberg is the Isidor Loeb Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law. He serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies at the MU School of Law and also as Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the University of Missouri. Professor Trachtenberg joined the MU faculty in 2010. Before coming to Missouri, Professor Trachtenberg was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School from 2008-2010. From 2006-2008, he was a Litigation Associate at Covington & Burling LLP.

Professor Trachtenberg received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was an Articles Editor on the Columbia Law Review. He has an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Limerick and a B.A. from Yale in Political Science, with distinction. After graduating from law school, Professor Trachtenberg clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit with Judge José A. Cabranes.

In 2012, Professor Trachtenberg received the Gold Chalk Award for excellence in teaching from the MU Graduate Professional Council. In 2014, he won the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award, and in 2015, he received the Husch Blackwell Distinguished Faculty Award from the School of Law. In 2018, he received the Provost’s Faculty Leadership Award for University Citizenship, and he won the UM System President’s Award in that category in 2019. Professor Trachtenberg chaired the MU Faculty Council on University Policy during 2015-2016 and 2016-2017.

Anne Alexander is an Associate Teaching Professor of Law and the Director of Legal Research & Writing at the University of Missouri School of Law. Her process-oriented methodology encourages students to develop their own knowledge about legal analysis and to communicate legal ideas to non-legal audiences. She presents nationally about her teaching techniques.

In 2015, Professor Alexander won the University of Missouri Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award (Graduate School). In 2016, she won the Earnest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology and was one of seven recipients of the Innovation Award at the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning. In 2017 and 2019, Professor Alexander was recognized as the Lloyd L Gaines Honoree by the Black Law Student Association; she also received the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award. In 2019, she received the Carrie Mae Carroll Award from the Women’s Law Association and the Gold Chalk Award for excellence in teaching from the MU Graduate Professional Council.

Professor Alexander has a BA in Anthropology and an MS in Education from Indiana University. She graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Missouri School of Law and then worked as an associate attorney at Jenner & Block in Chicago. Prior to attending law school, she was an elementary school teacher.

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