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America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System, 14th Edition

David W. Neubauer, Henry F. Fradella

Copyright 2026
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America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System 14th Edition by David W. Neubauer/Henry F. Fradella

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
Pricing

Overview

Neubauer/Fradella's AMERICA’S COURTS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, 14th Edition, offers a comprehensive explanation of the courts and the criminal justice system, presented in a streamlined, straightforward manner that appeals to instructors and students alike. The crisp, clear writing is organized into brief sections within chapters, ensuring that students gain a firm handle on the material. The text's innovative "courtroom workhouse" model, which focuses on the interrelationships among the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney, brings the courtroom to life. This text gives students an accurate glimpse of what it's like to work within the American criminal justice system and is now available with MindTap, our digital learning solution that powers students' mastery of key concepts while engaging them with video cases, career scenarios, visual summaries and more.

Meet the Authors

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David W. Neubauer

David William Neubauer has taught at the University of Florida, at Washington University in St. Louis, and most recently at the University of New Orleans. In addition to this best-selling text, he is the author of DEBATING CRIME: RHETORIC AND REALITY, and BATTLE SUPREME: THE CONFIRMATION OF CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS AND THE FUTURE OF THE SUPREME COURT, both from Wadsworth. His articles have appeared in a wide array of scholarly journals, including Law and Society Review, Judicature, Policy Studies Journal, and Law and Policy Quarterly. Dr. Neubauer's current research interests include nominations to the Supreme Court and religion in public life.

Henry F. Fradella

Henry F. Fradella is a Professor in and Associate Director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. He earned a B.A. in psychology from Clark University, both a master's in forensic science and a J.D. from The George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary justice studies from Arizona State University. In addition to having published more than 80 scholarly articles, comments, and reviews, Dr. Fradella is the author of ten other books, including two published by Wadsworth: AMERICA'S COURTS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM and CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FOR THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSIONAL. Dr. Fradella has twice served as a guest editor of the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice and as the Legal Literature editor of West's Criminal Law Bulletin for four terms (Volumes 41–44). A fellow of the Western Society of Criminology, he served as the editor of the society's journal, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society from December 2013 through April 2017. He teaches a variety of courses, including criminal law, criminal procedure, courts and judicial processes, and forensic psychology.

What's New

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This market-leading text is ideal to use in a traditional semester. Updated statistics illuminate all aspects of the criminal judicial process, including current information on federal and state courts and their caseloads, juvenile crime, case attrition, bail, sentencing and wrongful convictions. Issues of structural inequality have been thoroughly infused throughout the book.
Students gain insight into the latest U.S. Supreme Court cases. Students also learn about changes to the Court, including the controversies surrounding Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson, the increased use of the Court’s “shadow docket,” the ethical concerns about the behavior of several Justices and the growing politicization of the Court and its corresponding effect on public perception of the Court’s legitimacy.
New contemporary examples illustrate principles throughout the book.

Features

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This best-selling text on criminal courts features a unique emphasis on courthouse dynamics, which gives students a true sense of being in the courthouse.
The book's unique themes -- the law on the books, the law in action and the law in controversy -- provide students with a means of focusing on important issues and how to think critically about them.
"Case Close-Up" boxes in each chapter present important court decisions that have affected our nation's criminal justice system. These boxes also highlight the dynamic nature of courts in the United States.
"Courts and Controversy" boxes deal with contentious issues in the criminal courts system and how these issues are resolved.
The 14th edition features three appendices: The U.S. Constitution, an overview of the United States Constitution that focuses on parts of the Constitution that describe the judicial system and legal reasoning that explains adjudication as the formal process by which legal disputes are judicially resolved in courts of law.

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Part I: THE STRUCTURE OF U.S. CRIMINAL COURTS.
1. Crime, Law, Courts, and Controversy.
2. Federal Courts.
3. State Courts.
4. Juvenile Courts.
Part II: PEOPLE IN THE COURTS.
5. The Dynamics of Courthouse Justice.
6. Prosecutors.
7. Defense Attorneys.
8. Judges.
9. Defendants, Victims, and Witnesses.
Part III: PROCESSING CRIMINAL CASES IN THE COURTS.
10. Pretrial Case Processing and Attrition: From Arrest and Bail to Charging and Arraignment.
11. Disclosing and Suppressing Evidence.
12. Negotiated Justice and Pleas.
13. Trials and Juries.
14. Sentencing.
15. Appellate and Habeas Corpus Review.