Bail to Jail

Richard Singer covers in his book “Examples & Explanations: Criminal Procedure II: From Bail to Jail” almost everything that can be legally relevant in the judicial process following the arrest of the possible suspect or future convict. Exhaustive and extremely well-documented, the book covers important aspects in the mechanism ranging from bargained pleas and charging decisions to sentencing and appeals that may follow the jury decision.

One of the most important positive aspect we may point out in this book is the courage the author has to include deeply debated legal subjects we are dealing with nowadays. Certainly, in a time of global war with terrorism, new and out of place measures for the democratic civilizations may seem out of place. We are not referring only to the increased measures of national security, but also to controversial issues such as Guantanamo Bay.

Given the fact that, on one hand, in the global war against terror, we may consider that almost anything goes and that, on the other hand, significant abuse on human rights were marked by numerous party there, we may consider that deciding to deal with these cases and to explain them is actually a tough and courageous decision on the part of any author. However, Richard Singer does just that. He is not afraid to approach such subjects and his book is very present in today’s reality. From enemy combatant cases to Guantanamo Bay, everything is approached here.

In many ways, we feel that this book covers every relevant detail in traditional topics related to post-arrest procedures, including relevant post-trial actions. Further more, as a student, one can only find that the book is written so as to fit the needs of a student. In this sense, we see, for example, that the general approaches to different legal actions and concepts are always followed up by different sets of exercises, each completed with explanations and answers. As a student, one always finds this helpful as it practically prolongs the explanations in the book, applying them to learned theory.

Relating to the different chapters, this book includes opinions on “early decisions about the defendant, charging decisions, the grand jury and alternatives, evidence disclosure, pleas of guilt and bargained pleas, the jury, double jeopardy, assistance of counsel, sentencing, and appeals and collateral attack” , only to mention some of them. It is difficult to select the most useful or interesting aspect in this book. The main quality we may find is that it is professionally written and that the approach of a professional is felt throughout the book.

Additionally, even if the background is scientific, the approach is often close to the reader, with useful testing features and the capacity to involve the reader in study. Given the difficulty of the subject, this is often something to appreciate: an approach that is likely to reach better the reader is often preferred. Bibliography 1. Barnes and Nobles Review. On the Internet at http://btobsearch. barnesandnoble. com/booksearch/isbnInquiry. asp? z=y&btob=Y&isbn=0735550638&TXT=Y&itm=2