Criminal Law: The Essentials provides students with a concise and straightforward introduction to the world of criminal law. The textbook presents readers with brief case excerpts and statutes to demonstrate how criminal laws can align or diverge depending upon location and jurisdiction.

The opening chapter discusses the emergence of law, philosophies on punishment in society, constitutional limitations on criminal law in the United States, the classification of crimes, and more. Additional chapters explore the elements of a crime, anticipatory offenses and parties to crimes, defenses to criminal culpability, and criminal homicide. Students learn about the nuances of various types of crime: against the person, property, crimes against public order and public decency, crimes against the government, and substance abuse crimes. The final chapter addresses sentencing.

New and/or expanded topics for the fourth edition include the insanity defense; intimate partner violence; elder abuse; academic and related fraud; animal law; contempt of court; mandatory minimum sentencing; capital punishment; sex offender registration; and more. Additional statutes, cases, and other materials are available in an online supplement to the text.