AUDIENCE The Criminal Law Handbook is for anyone trying to understand and navigate the criminal justice system--suspects, defendants, inmates, witnesses, victims, and their loved ones. It can also help students, paralegals, journalists, and others who need to have a basic understanding of criminal law. WHAT IS NEW IN THIS EDITION The book explains criminal laws and procedures in a reader-friendly question-and-answer format and provides examples and illustrations of important concepts, rules, and cases. Unlike criminal law books geared toward lawyers, The Criminal Law Handbook unravels the complex criminal justice system for all to understand. Criminal laws constantly evolve through court rulings and changes to state and federal laws. For over two decades, the authors have provided readers with updates on the latest developments in criminal law, including Supreme Court rulings. This edition will contain updates on laws and rulings related to gun control, cybercrimes, AI, policing, Miranda rights, and more. Criminal law books are usually geared for lawyers.

This reference book is the preeminent overview of the criminal justice system for consumers and explains how the system really works in plain English. Millions of Americans have some involvement with the criminal justice system every year--a person doesn't need to be a convicted felon to be justice involved. Each year, around 20% of U.S. residents (age 16 and older) have some type of police contact, whether that's a traffic stop, arrest, 911 call, or some other contact. (BJS Report 2024). Police make close to 7 million arrests each year (FBI UCR data). Anyone can unexpectedly become a victim or witness to a crime.