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The CRS Reports that comprise this book examines criminal justice issues we are currently facing in the United States. The first chapter examines mental incompetency and firearms ineligibility, and amendments to acts such as the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, which were initiated after the mass shootings in San Bernardino in December 2015 and in Orlando in June 2016. The next report examines how domestic terrorism, hate crime and homegrown violent extremism relate (and differ) from one another and current trends. Additional reports include an overview on human trafficking trends, background, federal programs and issues for Congress on missing adults (age 18 and older). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that as of December 31, 2016, approximately 54,000 cases were pending. Finally, as a general rule, federal judges must impose a minimum term of imprisonment upon defendants convicted of various controlled substance (drug) offenses and drug-related offenses. The severity of those sentences depends primarily upon the nature and amount of drugs involved, the defendant's prior criminal record, any resulting injuries or death, and in the case of the related firearms offenses, the manner in which the firearm was used. This last chapter revisits the mandatory minimum sentencing of federal drug offenses and offenders in the United States.

In recent years, thenbsp;lifecoursenbsp;perspective has become a popular theoretical orientation toward crime. Yet despite its growing importance in the field of criminology, most textbooks give it only cursory treatment. Crime and the Lifecourse: An Introduction by Michael L. Benson provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary research and theory on the life-course approach to crime. The book emphasizes a conceptual understanding of this approach. A special feature is the integration of qualitative and quantitative research on criminal life histories. This book: provides an overview of the life course approach and describes the major concepts and issues innbsp;lifecoursenbsp;theory as it applies to criminology reviews evidence on biological and genetic influences on crime reviews research on the role of the family in crime and juvenile delinquency provides a detailed discussion of the criminologicalnbsp;lifecourse theories of Moffitt, Hagan, Sampson and Laub, and others discusses the connections between youthful crime and adult outcomes in education, occupation, and marriage presents an application of thenbsp;lifecourse approach to white-collar crime discusses how macro sociological and historical developments have influenced the shape of the lifecourse in American society as it relates to patterns in crime.

Now in a modernized Third Edition, the best-selling Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials continues to engage students in an exploration of the American criminal justice system. This classic text covers the foundational concepts of criminal law and the justice system, including the people and processes that make up the system and how they interact. It features updated statistics and data, contemporary court cases and case studies, and updated references for all topics. With Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials students will understand the relationship between law enforcement, corrections, law, policy making and administration, the juvenile justice system, and the courts. This well-organized and comprehensive text is the clear choice for introductory criminal justice courses.

This book offers a scholarly introduction to comparative criminal justice. It examines and reflects on the ways different countries and jurisdictions deal with the main stages in the criminal justice process, from policing, to systems of trial, to sentencing, and punishment. This popular bestseller has been fully updated and expanded for the fourth edition. This textbook provides the reader with: a comparative perspective on criminal justice and its main components a knowledge of methodology for comparative research and analysis a discussion of global trends such as the global drop in crime, the punitive turn, penal populism, privatization, international policing and international criminal tribunals an understanding of the emerging concepts in comparative criminal justice, such as security, surveillance, crimmigration and penal exceptionalism a global and historical consideration of the death penalty and international criminal justice increased attention to environmental crime, genocide and policy brutality. The new edition has been fully updated to keep abreast with this growing field of study and research, to include a broader coverage of judicial decision makers; a new chapter on the death penalty in comparative perspective; and further coverage of key topics such as global policing and electronic monitoring, and new insights into measuring and understanding crime and punishment globally. In this book, lists of further reading, study questions and boxed case studies help bring comparative criminal justice alive for students and instructors alike. This book is perfect reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses in comparative criminal justice and those who are engaged in the study of global responses to crime.

This second edition of Gloria Browne-Marshall¿s seminal work , tracing the history of racial discrimination in American law from colonial times to the present, is now available with major revisions. Throughout, she advocates for freedom and equality at the center, moving from their struggle for physical freedom in the slavery era to more recent battles for equal rights and economic equality. From the colonial period to the present, this book examines education, property ownership, voting rights, criminal justice, and the military as well as internationalism and civil liberties by analyzing the key court cases that established America¿s racial system and demonstrating the impact of these court cases on American society. This edition also includes more on Asians, Native Americans, and Latinos. Race, Law, and American Society is highly accessible and thorough in its depiction of the role race has played, with the sanction of the U.S. Supreme Court, in shaping virtually every major American social institution.