Guides: 1L Resources, Tips and Tools: Criminal Law

Q&A

Q: What are treatises, hornbooks and nutshells? A: Click here for brief descriptions of these study aids.

Casebooks: Criminal Law

Forthcoming:

BLS Library is tracking future availability of this forthcoming open access ebook at CALI.org: Race, Racism, and US Law by Jennifer Wriggins.

Postconviction Remedies by by Sean O'Brien, LaJuana Davis & Amanda K, Rogers
Publication Date: Aug. 2025

Excerpt from this open-access CALI ebook's description: "[D]esigned for a one-semester survey course on federal and state habeas corpus, postconviction, and sentence correction procedures, with additional focus on innocence cases. It is also intended to give students a legal foundation for clinical advocacy work for people who are unjustly imprisoned."
Criminal Law: An Integrated Approach by Alice Ristroph
Publication Date: 2nd ed. 2024

This recent, open-access CALI e-textbook written by BLS Prof. Alice Ristroph includes embedded interactive questions to help students understand and apply material. CALI requests a user's name, email & law school to access this e-textbook.
Excerpt from this ebook's description: "This is the Second Edition of Criminal Law: An Integrated Approach, a new textbook designed for a first-year law school course in criminal law. Its aim is to present an accurate overview of American criminal law as it operates in the twenty-first century, with attention to racial disparities and other inequalities and to the features of criminal law that produce these inequalities."
Criminal Law and Its Processes: Cases and Materials by Sanford H. Kadish, Stephen J. Schulhofer & Rachel E. Barkow
Call Number: KF9219 .K3 2022 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 11th ed. c2022

Note: 10th ed. of Criminal Law and Its Processes: Cases and Materials also is on Reserve. There also is 1 copy on Course Reserve.

Criminal Law: Cases and Materials by Joshua Dressler & Stephen P. Garvey
Call Number: KF9219 .D68 2022 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 9th ed. c2022
Criminal Law: Doctrine, Application and Practice by Jens David Ohlin
Call Number: KF9219 .O35 2022 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 3rd ed. c2022
Criminal Law: Case Studies & Controversies by Paul H. Robinson, Shima Baradaran Baughman & Michael T. Cahill
Call Number: KF9219 .R597 2021 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 5th ed. [2021]

Co-authored by BLS Prof. & Emeritus President/Dean Michael Cahill.

Criminal Law Casebook Companion:

How Criminal Law Works: A Conceptual and Practical Guide by Samuel H. Pillsbury
Call Number: KF9219 .P55 2009 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 2009

Treatises & Hornbooks: Criminal Law

Wharton's Criminal Law (treatise) by Jens David Ohlin
Publication Date: 16th ed. (2021-) w/ Sept. 2025 update.

Click title above. In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - WESTLAW. Enter your Westlaw username/password. BLS Library also provides this as a Proview ebook.
Criminal Law (Hornbook series) by Wayne R. LaFave & Jens David Ohlin
Call Number: KF9219 .L24 2023 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 7th ed. [2023]
Principles of Criminal Law (Concise Hornbook series) by Wayne R. LaFave
Call Number: KF9219.85 .L34 2017 (Main)

Publication Date: 3rd ed. [2017]
Criminal Law (Aspen student treatise series) by Paul H. Robinson & Michael T. Cahill
Call Number: KF9219 .R63 2012 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 2nd ed. [2012]

Co-authored by BLS Prof. & Emeritus President/Dean Michael Cahill.

Study Aids Containing Multiple-Choice Questions & Short-Answer Questions: Criminal Law

The Glannon Guide to Criminal Law: Learning Criminal Law Through Multiple-Choice Questions and Analysis by Laurie L. Levenson & David W. Burcham
Publication Date: 7th ed. 2024

Access through Aspen Learning Library. In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - ASPEN.
Questions & Answers: Criminal Law: Multiple-Choice and Short-Answer Questions and Answers by Paul Marcus
Call Number: KF9219.85 .L48 2023 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 5th ed. c2023
Criminal Law (CrunchTime study guide series) by Steven L. Emanuel
Call Number: KF9219.85 .E43 2022 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 6th ed. [2022]

Access through Aspen Learning Library. In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - ASPEN.
1 print copy also is available on Reserve.
Preface states that this CrunchTime study guide is designed "to be used in the last few weeks (or even less) before your final exams." Includes: flow charts; Capsule Summary; "Exam Tips"; 94 short-answer questions/answers; 26 multiple-choice questions/answers; and 3 essay questions/answers.
Criminal Law: Objective (Exam Pro series) by John M. Burkoff & Nancy M. Burkoff
Call Number: KF9219.85 .B872 2022 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 2nd ed. [2022]
Core Criminal Law: Learning Through Multiple-Choice Questions by Kathy Swedlow
Call Number: KF9219.85 .S94 2021 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 2021
Criminal Law (Emanuel Law Outlines series) by Steven L. Emanuel
Publication Date: 9th ed. 2021

Access through Aspen Learning Library. In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - ASPEN.
Includes: Capsule Summary of key topics; "Quiz Yourself" short-answer questions in many chapters; "Exam Tips" at the end of each chapter; 3 essay exam questions/answers; and 26 multiple-choice questions/answers.

Additional Study Aids: Criminal Law

Mastering Criminal Law by Ellen Podgor, Cynthia Jones, Peter Henning, Neil Cohen & Sanjay Chhablani
Call Number: KF9219 .P63 2025 (Reserve)

Publication Date: 3rd ed. 2025
Criminal Law (Examples & Explanations series) by Shima Baradaran Baughman, Richard G. Singer & John Q. La Fond
Publication Date: 9th ed. 2024

Access through Aspen Learning Library.
Criminal Law in a Nutshell by Arnold H. Loewy & Joseph E. Kennedy
Call Number: KF9219.3 .L63 2024 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 7th ed. 2024

BLS Library provides 1 digital copy (which circulates for 2 hours like a Reserve book) + 1 print copy on Reserve.
Acing Criminal Law: A Checklist Approach to Criminal Law by John Burkoff
Call Number: KF9219.85 .B87 2023 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 5th ed. c2023
Criminal Law (Gilbert Law Summaries) by George E. Dix & Leslie W. Abramson
Call Number: KF9218 .D5 2023 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 20th ed. 2023

Format: Outline.
Understanding Criminal Law by Joshua Dressler
Call Number: KF9219 .D74 2022 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 9th ed. [2022]

Recommended by BLS Prof. Stacy Caplow.
Criminal Law: Model Problems and Outstanding Answers by Kathryn Christopher & Russell Christopher
Call Number: KF9219.85 .C48 2012 (On Reserve)

Publication Date: 2012

Book on the Origins of the Criminal Justice System

The Origins of the Criminal Justice System: Historical Explorations by the Justice-Involved
Publication Date: 2024

BLS Library provides 3 digital copies. In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO).

Selected CALI Lessons: Criminal Law

The following CALI lessons cover issues addressed in Criminal Law classes. CALI requires users to log in. Feel free to contact askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or to text (718) 734-2432 for assistance.

Actus Reus
This exercise provides an introduction to the act requirement. In particular, it addresses the definition of "act," voluntariness, liability for omissions (failures to act), and possession offenses.
The Mens Rea of Knowledge
This lesson examines the mental state of knowledge as set forth in the Model Penal Code. It places knowledge in a continuum of mental states and seeks to familiarize students with the rationale for requiring knowledge and for punishing knowledge crimes differently from other offenses. The lesson also presents material to demonstrate how knowledge, a highly subjective mental state, can be proven through inferences of various kinds, and how proof of knowledge of a result might differ from proof of knowledge of conduct.
Presumption of Innocence
This exercise provides a general introduction to constitutional limitations on the assignment of burdens of proof and the creation of evidentiary presumptions.
Defense of Others
The justification defense of defense of others derives from two or three analogous old common law defenses: defense of self, prevention of crime, and perhaps protection of property. This lesson seeks to inform students about the relationship of the defense of others to these other defenses.