Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Battleground: Criminal Justice. Edited by Gregg Barak. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007. 2 vols. 840 p. $175.00. ISBN 10: 0-313-34040-4; 978-0-313-34040-6.

The criminal justice issues in this work seem to fall into four common denominators such as the rights of the individual versus the rights of the state, the established legal history of each. Many issues are complex, but they tend to become seen as either right or wrong, yes or no, e.g., the death penalty and the Patriot Act. Finally some criminal justice controversies such as whether or not persons accused in a felony crime have a right to be represented by an attorney whether they can afford it or not, others seem to continue to be debated such as gun control or police use of racial profiling. These issues form the battleground for criminal justice. Entries range between 3000 to 5000 words and include an introduction and background, the key events, legal decisions/statutes, key elements and future prospects. Some inset boxes include further information such as under the heading "Cruel and Unusual Punishment," a case is discussed under the heading, "Maybe we were wrong: the reform movement in sentencing" which dealt with even increasingly long terms for drug and violence convictions. The signed articles have endnotes and suggestions for further reading. A 5-page bibliography is in an appendix. Many of the topics in this reference have background information for debates as well as discussion in current events or history classes. Students who are contemplating a career in law whether in police work or law, will find the discussions here fascinating.