This OER textbook is designed for an “introduction to criminal justice” class or a similar course. It is designed to provide a survey of the field, including police, courts, and corrections, to students with no background in criminal justice.
Instructor Note
Note that this introductory criminal justice text is designed to be accompanied by another text, Fundamental Cases in Criminal Justice.
This work is licensed under an Open Educational Resource-Quality Master Source (OER-QMS) License.
Table of Contents
Prefatory Materials
[ Preface ]Chapter I: The Criminal Justice System
[ Chapter Introductory Text ]Section 1.1: Major Components
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 1.2: Roles, Objectives, and Limits in Criminal Justice
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 1.3: Measuring Crime
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 1.4: The Criminal Justice Process
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 1.5: The Criminal Justice Process (Continued)
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Chapter II: The Political and Legal Environment of Criminal Justice
[ Chapter 2 Introductory Text ]Section 2.1: Dual Federalism
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 2.2: Politics in Criminal Justice
[ Text | Learning Resources ]
Section 2.3 The Supreme Court
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 2.4: The Civil Rights Revolution
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section: 2.5: Theories of Punishment
[ Text | Learning Resources ]
Section 3.1: Sources of the Criminal Law
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 3.2: Substantive Criminal Law
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 3.3: Elements of Crimes
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 3.4: Legal Defenses
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 3.5: Substantive Offenses
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Chapter IV: Law Enforcement
[ Chapter Introductory Text ]Section 4.1: Early History of Policing
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 4.2: Structure and Nature of Policing
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 4.3: Police Methods
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 4.4: Investigations and Specialized Units
[ Text | Learning Resources ]4.5: Legal Environment of Policing
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Chapter V: Courts and Sentencing
[ Chapter Introductory Text ]Section 5.1: State and Federal Courts
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 5.2: Prosecution and Defense
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 5.3: Pretrial Process
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 5.4: The Criminal Trial
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 5.5: Sentencing
[ Text | Learning Resources ]
Chapter VI: Prisons, Jails, and Community Corrections
[ Chapter Introductory Text ]Section 6.1: Jails
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 6.2 Prisons
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 6.3: Prisoner’s Rights
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 6.4: Probation
[ Text | Learning Resources ]Section 6.5: Parole
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APA Citation
McKee, A. J. (2023). Criminal Justice: An Overview of the System (2nd ed.). Booklocker. https://www.docmckee.com/WP/cj/criminal-justice-an-overview-of-the-system/
Dear DocMckee:
I’m writing to ask your permission to use your textbook for a dual class. I teach at Los Angeles Mission College, and I’m teaching a high school and college class via Zoom.
Finding a suitable textbook to use was difficult. Most of the materials are excellent, but that excellence has a price, and they are unusable.
By that I mean Schallenberger, Brohm, etc. produce 600+ pages, double columned and they look nifty, but they are not. The books are way too comprehensive, and go into details that would be better taught in advanced criminal law/procedure classes.
Your book is not intimidating to students, and covers everything the other books try to do. It’s a Godsend to have such a book. A colleague of mine suggested looking into it, an it was all systems go.
Let me praise you, and I will be looking forward to your other materials. I usually teach Report Writing, but I also teach the full array of Community College AJ classes.
To the point: May I use your book for the fifteen students (primarily high schoolers’) as an OER/ZTC class?
Again, I must thank you for making this subject not an obstacle, but an incentive to teach and learn. You know how to be succinct and it’s wonderful to see such.
I will also ask you if I may use the “Case” related book? I have not seen that, and the Bookstore representative I deal with at Mission College alerted me to that publication, and I see you listing it among your many writings.
DocMcKee — you’re one of those special people, and I appreciate finding this gem.
Absolutely! Thanks for your kind words and for letting me know you plan to use the texts. Note that in the online versions, if you navigate to the table of contents you’ll find “learning resources” such as learning objectives and powerpoints that may make life a little easier.
Regards,
Adam McKee
Mr. (“Doc”) Mckee
I only know two words to express to you for gratitude — Thank You.
One question: How do you use the OER system with your book?
I want to just give them text, and then go into the instructor resources. Are the students privy to the resources, etc.?
What a great book and a lifesaver. I will definitely add a year onto your life.
BTW, you must have lived an interesting one. If you have time, could you tell me (write) about yourself? You’re obviously very eclectic and smart.
Anyway, I have to go to my dual-enrollment class this afternoon, but much thanks.
Everything is on my website, so students have the same access as anyone else. All of the text and instructional resources are freely available. Those that prefer paper copies can buy those from any bookseller. There are also electronic versions (.e.g., Kindle). I’ve provided links to those under the “bookstore” tab on the top of my site. My CV is available under the “About Us” tab….although it is out of date.
We use Blackboard for all classes at my institution, so I put all of the text/links in there for students to find easily. I have an online version and a face-to-face version with all of the graded stuff removed. The content is identical.
Hello Dr. McKee,
I need a printable version of the textbook.
I would like to use your textbook for our prison program. We have a community college program called Rising Scholars and provide courses to incarcerated individuals. I teach an Introduction to Criminal Justice course and would like to use this textbook but the inmates do not have access to computers. I need a printable version for these students and was hoping I could get the PDF version of your textbook.
I regret I can’t provide that permission. Versions formatted for print violate my agreement with my publisher. Print versions have to be purchased.
Regards,
Adam McKee
Mr. McKee,
Your book has been referenced in the National Technical Standards for the SkillsUSA Criminal Justice contest. I would like to be able to use your source with students in a high school/dual credit Criminal Justice program to create the contest which be used in an upcoming regional contest. I would link the source (from this website) through Canvas for student could access. Canvas is an LMS that requires a Username and Password for individual student use. I would like to print ONE copy for myself to use as I take notes in it for use in class as I work with the students on creating the contests.
In advance, I would appreciate the opportunity to use this resource in our classroom.
Thank you,
Debbie Montgomery
That sounds fine! Thanks for the information and kind words.
Hello Dr. McKee,
Thank you for this great resource! We are adopting your textbook/resources for our Introduction to Criminal Justice course at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Thanks for letting me know! Be aware that my second edition is coming out very soon, and all pages will be updated with the latest information! The link structure will not change, so nothing will break.
Doc McKee,
Thank you for publishing a very straight forward Intro to CJ book. We have adopted this book at South Piedmont Community College in Monroe, NC and I have been very happy with it.
I look forward to the new edition coming soon, and I am very appreciative that the links will not change, as that will make updating the courses very easy!
Dear Dr. McKee,
I would like to use portions of your “Criminal Justice: An Overview of the System,” “Fixing the Police,” and “Police Methods” texts for my ZTC Police and Society class at University of Alaska Anchorage. Ideally, I would prefer to use your “Fundamentals of Policing” text, but it is still in draft stage. I’ve read and understand the OER-QMS licensing requirements.
Your writing is excellent and at a perfect level for a typical university student. Thank you for all you have done to make these outstanding resources available.
Thanks for the kind words and letting me know that you are using the materials. Let me know if I can help!
Regards,
Adam
Dr. McKee,
We developed a course at the end of 2022 using this text for our Introduction to Criminal Justice course. At the time we were not aware that the 2nd. ed was on the way. I see in your notes above that the links are all the same. I was wondering if the were any major changes in content and if you might have a breakdown of changes from the original to the 2nd edition. My course starts on September 7 and I just realized that the book was updated. I want to make sure that my course is consistent with the current text.
Thank you,
Frank Plunkett, MAT, MCJ
Peirce College, Philadelphia PA.
The ideas presented did not change. Much of the new material is explanatory in nature. The biggest caveats about changes are factual things. The section on the Supreme Court, for example, has been revised almost completely because the character of the court is now vastly different than it was 5 years ago. I’ve cleaned up the glossary, but the key terms for each section and the overarching content for each section did not change. I tried very hard to update the relevant information without “breaking” courses based on links to my material, and quizzes and assignments based on key terms. If your quizzes/assignments have references to specific numbers or people, I’d suggest reviewing those for accuracy. Otherwise, you should be fine.
Regards,
Adam
Thank you very much Dr. Mckee. I appreciate your work and your attention to the needs of users. This course was my first real venture in OAER materials. I was a tad concerned due to the date of the 1st ed but you solved that problem with the second edition. Thanks again,
Frank Plunkett
Peirce College, Philadelphia PA
Dr. McKee:
I am an adjunct instructor at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. I have been reviewing your book: Criminal Justice: An Overview of the System. I am trying to design a course titled Corrections and Penology with OER to help students with costs. Am I able to use portions of your book that pertain to my class. Parts of the first chapter, chapter 6, the Bill of Rights appendix and Glossary of terms are all very helpful. If I understand correctly, I can refer them to the links and use the material on Blackboard?
You are correct! I do however suggest linking to the material if your institution’s policies allow for that. That way you’ll get the latest updates when I correct errors and omissions. Lot’s of folks that pasted content into blackboard are stuck with broken content after I updated to the Second Edition. None of my classes had any problem since I provide links to the readings rather than putting the content in Blackboard. Let me know if I can be of assistance!
Regards,
Adam
Thank you. I do plan to link students directly to the material. I will be running it by my university. I appreciate your work in this area and the sharing of materials.