American Criminal Courts: Legal Process and Social Context is an introductory-level text that offers a comprehensive study of the legal processes that guide criminal courts and the social contexts that introduce variations in the activities of actors inside and outside the court. Specifically the text focuses upon: Legal Processes. U.S. criminal courts are constrained by several legal processes and organizational structures that determine how the courts operate and how laws are applied. This book explores how democratic processes develop the criminal law in the United States, the documents that define law (federal and state constitutions, legal codes, administrative policies), the organizational structure of courts at the federal and state levels, the overlapping authority of the appeals process, and the effect of legal processes such as precedent, jurisdiction, and the underlying legal philosophies of various types of courts. Although most texts on criminal courts do a credible job of describing legal processes, this text looks more deeply into the origins of criminal law, historic turning points in the criminal law, conditions that affect the decision-making of criminal justice practitioners, and the contentious political process that affects how criminal laws are considered. Social Contexts. The criminal courts are staffed by people who represent different perspectives, occupational pressures, and organizational goals. The text includes chapters on actors in the traditional courtroom workgroup (judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys), as well as those outside the court who seek to influence it, including advocacy groups, media, and politicians. It is the interplay between the court legal processes and the social actors in the courtroom that makes the application of the criminal laws so fascinating. By focusing on the tension between the law (legal processes) and the actors inside and outside the courts system (social contexts), this text demonstrates how the courts are a product of "law in action," and it presents the course content in a way that enables students to understand not only the "how" of the U.S. criminal court system but also the "why."

Global Crime and Justice offers a truly transnational examination of both deviance and social controls around the world. Unlike comparative textbooks detailing the criminal justice systems of a few select nations, or cataloging types of international crimes that span multiple legal jurisdictions, Global Crime and Justice provides a critical and integrated investigation into the nature of crime and how different societies react to it. The book first details various types of international crime, including genocide, war crimes, international drug and weapons smuggling, terrorism, slavery, and human trafficking. The second half covers international law, international crime control, the use of martial law, and the challenges of balancing public order with human and civil rights. Global Crime and Justice is suitable for use in criminology and criminal justice departments, as well as in political science, international relations, and global studies programs. It will appeal to all who seek an academically rigorous and comprehensive treatment of the international and transnational issues of crime and social order.

Global Crime and Justice offers a truly transnational examination of both deviance and social controls around the world. Unlike comparative textbooks detailing the criminal justice systems of a few select nations, or cataloging types of international crimes that span multiple legal jurisdictions, Global Crime and Justice provides a critical and integrated investigation into the nature of crime and how different societies react to it. The book first details various types of international crime, including genocide, war crimes, international drug and weapons smuggling, terrorism, slavery, and human trafficking. The second half covers international law, international crime control, the use of martial law, and the challenges of balancing public order with human and civil rights. Global Crime and Justice is suitable for use in criminology and criminal justice departments, as well as in political science, international relations, and global studies programs. It will appeal to all who seek an academically rigorous and comprehensive treatment of the international and transnational issues of crime and social order.

"THE BEST TEXT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE."
--Gary W. Potter, Eastern Kentucky University
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents uses a distinctive crosscurrents theme to teach students about the complexities of the criminal justice system--and help them think critically about critical issues.
Completely revised and updated, the third edition offers:
THE LATEST, MOST CUTTING-EDGE INFORMATION
"An exceptional update. The examples are relevant and current; they vibrantly exemplify the issues and challenges facing our criminal justice system today."--Rachel L. Rayburn, Indiana University Purdue University-Fort Wayne
BROAD, COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE FIELD
"John Randolph Fuller covers a broad gamut of topics and provides enough color and depth that students are both educated and engaged in the class material."--Brian Lawton, George Mason University
"Fresh and insightful. Some of the topics addressed aren't usually seen in other texts of this kind--read it and you will be surprised."--Deborah Woodward Rhyne, University of Central Florida
A UNIQUE APPROACH
"This text presents a balanced perspective that facilitates students' development of critical analysis skills."--Brian W. Donavant, University of Tennessee at Martin
"Engaging and thought provoking. This book helps students develop critical-thinking skills, and gives them a chance to explore the reasons behind how the criminal justice system was created and many of its challenges from the past to present."--Robert J. Duran, New Mexico State University
CLEAR AND COMPELLING WRITING
"Easy to read and understand, yet comprehensive and detailed."--Serguei Cheloukhine, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
"Clear and concise. Fuller does an excellent job of presenting complex issues and ideas in an accessible manner."--Christopher Salvatore, Montclair State University"

The criminological contributions of Richard Quinney have spanned four decades and have spawned and energized both critical and peacemaking intellectual and activist movements in the field of Criminology. Quinney has been consistently recognized as one of a small handful of seminal thinkers in the discipline. The introduction illustrates how each chapter: has drawn inspiration from the crime-related writings of this influential criminologist; contains core assumptions of critical and peacemaking criminology; has application for the development of transformative justice as an alternative approach to the study of crime. Part 1 features chapters generally falling within the parameters of critical criminology. Here, critical analyses are directed toward: linkages of capitalism and political economy to crime; state/corporate crime; feminist concerns about moral conscience; views of crime and justice among convict criminologists; prison as an industrial complex. Part 2 exhibits chapters oriented toward the development of peacemaking criminology. As such, peacemaking criminology is explored in regard to: an emergent theoretical model; a synthesis of Quinney's peacemaking-oriented writings; women's crime and mothers in prisons; teaching and learning about justice through a non-violent perspective; advocating justice reforms on the internet; its future directions in terms of theory and application.