Fundamental Cases in Criminal Justice

This text provides edited and abridged cases that are intended to be easy to read and provide lower-division students with a gentle introduction to key legal concepts that define the workings of our criminal justice system.

The links to the HTML (web) OER version are below, and the text is available in a low-cost print edition.

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Table of Contents

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The following cases are heavily edited and abridged.  The idea is to make them more readable.  As such, they should not be relied upon as binding authority.

 Part I:  Safeguards

• Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
• Powell v. Alabama (1932)

Part II:  Police

• Terry v. Ohio (1968)
• Chimel v. California (1969)
• United States v. Drayton (2002)
• Caroll v. United States (1925)
• Maryland v. Wilson (1997)
• Warden v. Hayden (1967)
• Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
• New York v. Quarles (1984)
• Weeks v. United States (1914)
• Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
• United States v. Leon (1984)
• Nix v. Williams (1984)
• Tennessee v. Garner (1985)
• Monell v. Department of Social Services (1978)

Part III:  Courts and Sentencing

• United States v. Salerno (1987)
• Blackledge v. Allison (1977)
• Santobello v. New York (1971)
• Boykin v. Alabama (1969)
• North Carolina v. Alford (1970)
• Ricketts v. Adamson (1987)
• Bordenkircher v. Hayes (1978)
• Williams v. Florida (1970)
• Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
• Furman v. Georgia (1972)
• Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
• McCleskey v. Kemp (1987)
• Atkins v. Virginia (2002)
• Blakely v. Washington (2004)
• District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne (2009)

Part IV:  Corrections

• Hudson v. Palmer (1984)
• Wolf v. McDonnell (1974)
• Mempa v. Rhay (1967)
• Morrissey v. Brewer (1972)
• Gagnon v. Scarpelli (1973)

Part V:  Juvenile Justice

• Breed v. Jones (1975)
• In Re Gault (1967)
• In Re Winship (1970)
• McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1971)
• Schall v. Martin (1984)

These cases are designed to accompany the textbook Criminal Justice: An Overview of the System.