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Any ideas?

For Crim:

Understanding Crim Law by Dressler
and
Crim Law Black Letter Outline by Dressler

My crim. law professor is a little old school with regard to certain aspects of his teaching style, but he also suggests the comparatively short Understanding Criminal Law by Dressler rather than one of the lengthier alternatives. Everyone told me he recommended a hornbook before I showed up one day, and when no one could recall the author's name I just assumed he was talking about LaFave. Go with Dressler. There is way too much material to wade through in LaFave's uncondensed volume.

This seems to have been the case with the other "Understanding" books I looked through that had well-known hornbook antecedents. Many of the hornbooks have been classics for awhile now, and the "Understanding" authors seem to have gone through them and extracted almost everything the modern first-year student needs to know. However, I would warn you that there are some potentially important areas they don't discuss as extensively as one might like. It seems LaFave gets more into statutory construction, which is key in my class. Anyway, I wish I had found out about these texts earlier in the semester; they are probably the best initial reads.

There are multiple understanding criminal laws on amazon, can someone link me to the correct copy? the editions that i found are also pretty old...

PKSebben wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Cri ... 0820550272

Thanks PK! Do you have any recommendations for Crim Pro?

I haven't taken it. I'd ask the prof, because each Crim Pro class is different. Some are police practices, some are trial related.

I haven't taken it. I'd ask the prof, because each Crim Pro class is different. Some are police practices, some are trial related.

Yep, usually it comes in two semesters: 1) Police Practices; and 2) Bail to Jail. Some schools offer a "survey" course that crams lighter coverage of the whole mess into one semester. I would guess the supplements vary as to whether they cover the whole scope or are aligned for only one half.

snotrocket wrote:

I haven't taken it. I'd ask the prof, because each Crim Pro class is different. Some are police practices, some are trial related.

Yep, usually it comes in two semesters: 1) Police Practices; and 2) Bail to Jail. Some schools offer a "survey" course that crams lighter coverage of the whole mess into one semester. I would guess the supplements vary as to whether they cover the whole scope or are aligned for only one half.

Interesting. What supplements do you guys use for both?

snotrocket wrote:

I haven't taken it. I'd ask the prof, because each Crim Pro class is different. Some are police practices, some are trial related.

Yep, usually it comes in two semesters: 1) Police Practices; and 2) Bail to Jail. Some schools offer a "survey" course that crams lighter coverage of the whole mess into one semester. I would guess the supplements vary as to whether they cover the whole scope or are aligned for only one half.

Do you go to Mich? That's how ours is.

Interesting. What supplements do you guys use for both?

I'll let you know when I take it next year (Crim. Pro. is an upper class course at most schools, though a few teach it instead of Crim. Law in 1L). I agree with the above suggestions (Dressler's Understanding and Black Letter are the obvious choices for Crim. Law, especially if you're using Dressler's casebook). If your professor seems really into some topic that is only covered in LaFave, as SOC suggested, then maybe just read the relevant parts of that at the library. You also want one or two decent Q&A supplements, for which the E&E and Glannon Guide, and perhaps the Finz Multistate Method (big red book with lots of MBE style questions) should work. Get copies of past exams from your crim. law professor early on and use those to guide your choice of what sorts of problems to work. If you don't have any past exams, then the Siegel's are decent for generic essay style practice problems (plus they break them down by topic in the TOC, so it's easy to pick ones that focus on specific things, or to avoid subjects you did not cover). As with any class, just make sure that you find some source of good questions with answers that you can work on through the semester to cement the concepts in your brain and refine your outlines.

Do you go to Mich? That's how ours is.

Yes.

has anyone ever used "how criminal law works" by sam pillsbury? if so, it is any good? thanks

Learning Criminal Law Through Advocacy Argument by John Delaney

Work primarily from this book and do the chapters as they come up in the readings. This book will prepare you for the exam.

Refer to Dressler when you want more detail about any particular doctrine.