Criminal Law: Model Problems and Outstanding Answers / Edition 1

by Kathryn Christopher, Russell Christopher

Overview

Law students often find criminal law to be one of the most interesting, but also one of the most difficult courses. Even the fundamental elements of criminal liability can be hard to learn and even harder to apply on exams. The study of criminal law demands that students juggle a mix of common law principles, modern judicial decisions, statutory text, the Model Penal Code, and philosophies of justice to address the enduring dilemmas that comprise criminal law.

In Criminal Law: Model Problems and Outstanding Answers, Kathryn Christopher and Russell Christopher deftly guide students in applying criminal law. Their interesting and accessible fact patterns explore important principles surrounding homicide and rape, attempt and conspiracy, accomplice liability and defenses, and devote special attention to difficult doctrines like impossible attempt and felony murder. This book includes clear introductions to the major topics in criminal law, provides hypotheticals that students can expect to see on exams, and offers model answers to those hypotheticals. It then gives students the opportunity to evaluate their own work with a comprehensive self-analysis section. This book prepares students by challenging them to use the law they learn in class while also explaining the best way to express sophisticated answers on their exams.

Model Problems and Outstanding Answers is an innovative new series by Oxford University Press. Featuring topical introductions and clear fact patterns, each book contains exercises designed to help students develop methods to craft organized, relevant, and thoughtful responses to exam-style questions. These exercises show the student how to think like a lawyer. By guiding students to the most appropriate ways to apply their knowledge to new facts, the series offers meaningful and significant preparation for law school exams and bar-exam essays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195391770
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/22/2011
Series:	Model Problems and Outstanding Answers
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Kathryn Christopher was Visiting Assistant Professor, teaching criminal law, at the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Russell Christopher is Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law, where he teaches and researches criminal law and criminal procedure.

In addition to this book, Russell Christopher and Kathryn Christopher have co-authored articles appearing in Northwestern University Law Review and Indiana Law Journal, co-presented at numerous universities including Oxford University and the University of Arizona, and have taught classes together, both in America and England. Additionally, the authors have published separately in numerous journals including Arizona State Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Fordham Law Review, Ohio State Law Journal, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, and Philosophy & Public Affairs.

Table of Contents

1. Actus Reus: Acts and Omissions
2. Mens Rea
3. Mistake of Fact
4. Mistake of Law
5. Causation
6. Homicide I: Murder & Manslaughter
7. Homicide II: Provocation & EMED
8. Homicide III: Felony Murder & Misdemeanor Manslaughter
9. Rape I: Rape by Force or Threat of Force
10. Rape II: Rape by Coercion & Fraud
11. Self-Defense & Defense of Others
12. Necessity & Duress
13. Mental Impairment Defenses: Diminished Capacity, Intoxication & Insanity
14. Burden of Proof
15. Attempt
16. Impossible Attempt
17. Accomplice Liability
18. Conspiracy
19. Mistake Overview

Editorial Reviews

"Learning the law is easy. Understanding the facts is easy. Applying the law to the facts is not so easy. Here at last is the best tool out there for helping students and teachers bridge the gap between law and fact. Each chapter begins with a summary of the common law and the Model Penal Code pitched at just the right level of detail. Next comes a wonderfully crafted hypothetical and sample answer showing students the fine art of applying law to fact. Helpful charts, summaries, and tips abound. The authors have done students—and their teachers—a great service."
—Stephen P. Garvey, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School

"This is the textbook I suspect students are searching for: a sophisticated but not overlong summary of those parts of criminal law actually taught in first-year law courses, with an in-depth demonstration of how that law is to be applied, through a series of brilliantly conceived problems and fully developed answers. Learning to apply the law is what most professors see as their essential but challenging mission to impart. Professors should welcome the assistance this book offers them—rather than replacing what they do in class, it makes it that much more likely that they will be teaching students not merely how to recite the law, but to use it."
—Leo Katz, Frank Carano Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School

From the Publisher