Written with a real passion for communicating the meaning behind the principles criminal procedure, Samaha's text focuses on not just the "how to," but the "why"-providing case excerpts and meaningful legal analysis as well as emphasizing the need for a balance of government power and the liberty/privacy of individuals as a central, and very timely, theme of his book. This current Seventh Edition addresses the entire criminal procedure process, from search and seizure to post-conviction sentencing and review by appellate courts, while providing timely case updates and topic coverage in key areas such as terrorism and homeland security, the USA-PATRIOT Act, searches and seizures, military tribunals, new sentencing guidelines, and more.
Joel Samaha is Professor of History and Sociology at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, The Supreme Court and the Constitution, and a special joint Sociology/History Department topics course titled "Is there a Wartime Exception to the Bill of Rights?" He received his B.A., J.D., and Ph.D. from Northwestern University and studied under the late Sir Geoffrey Elton at Cambridge University, England. Professor Samaha was admitted to the Illinois Bar, briefly practiced law in Chicago, and then taught at UCLA before coming in 1971 to the University of Minnesota, where he served as Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice Studies for four years, taught both television and radio courses in criminal justice, and co-taught a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar in legal and constitutional history. He was named Distinguished Teacher at the University of Minnesota in 1974. Professor Samaha's numerous publications include articles on the history of criminal justice published in professional history journals and law reviews, a book on LAW AND ORDER IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, and the highly successful CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, now in its Seventh Edition (Wadsworth).
