1L Crim Law class- need help! Forum

[vyelps]

Hi TLS-ers,

I'm a 1L taking crim law (not crim pro) right now. My prof focuses heavily on policy in class and skims the BLL. I have dressler's supplement and the E&E to help with the BLL but im struggling to keep up with the policy discussions in class. does anyone have any book they can recommend to help me with policy? I guess I'm looking for a book to help lay out the different policy positions on major issues in crim law (strict liability, rationales behind the mens rea requirement, etc.) Our class discussions are chaotic and im struggling to understand the major points in the debates.

-thanks

[trickydicky]

have you seen the prof's previous tests? If they are BLL oriented then don't trip. I had the same type of teacher. Our test was a typical fact pattern. All taht I did was throw in nuggets of policy if they were warranted. To prepare, I did dressler, eande and glannon guide and booked the class.

[vyelps]

prof told us that exam would include both fact patterns and policy questions. any policy oriented exam supplements out there?

[surenough]

I personally haven't been able to find hornbooks that are good for policy. For policy I usually look at law review articles. If I can't follow something in class, I write down the keywords and do a search on Westlaw. The only problem with this method, is you get too much information. So you have to ignore the things not mentioned in class - and fill in the gaps on the information you do need.

[gregw8705]

Try using the professor as a supplement. If you have a sense of the policy issues or have recorded them in your notes, think about them, come up with an argument, and then go to the professor to discuss the issue. This will give you insight into what the person writing your test thinks are big policy issues, not some random person writing a book to get tenure and make a little side income from law students.

This could be more helpful than only reading a few of the billion available law review articles. If you get the sense that your professor really cares about some policy question or sees some policy issue as being of very high importance, you could then read law review articles on that particular topic.

[underdawg]

it's spelled "halp"

[LurkerNoMore]

Try Inside Criminal Law: What Matters and Why

[tome]

If other people seem to be getting it, a study group might be more help.

Edit: sorry, "halp"

[macattaq]

I personally haven't been able to find hornbooks that are good for policy. For policy I usually look at law review articles. If I can't follow something in class, I write down the keywords and do a search on Westlaw. The only problem with this method, is you get too much information. So you have to ignore the things not mentioned in class - and fill in the gaps on the information you do need.

Actual hornbooks themselves (the green ones) are good for policy. Its generally built into the discussion of a topic, and not set apart from it.