Selected cases and materials are likely to evoke the interest of students. Preference is given to recent cases raising criminal law issues in the modern context. Cases are selected for their tendency to spark emotional responses in students and then to require the students to filter these reactions through the requirements of the law and its underlying rationales. Account is taken of the development of new crimes such as identity theft, carjacking, and home invasion. Discussions of federal constitutional limits on criminal law and substantive federal criminal law issues by the U.S. Supreme Court are also included. The new edition includes expanded coverage of sexual assault and "castle" issues related to self-defense law.