The opening chapter provides an overview of criminal justice which deals with the focus of criminal justice, the role of research in criminal justice, the meaning of a 'just' society, measures of success in criminal justice, and a brief comparative analysis of the American criminal justice system in relation to systems in other countries. The next two chapters analyze abstract and concrete aspects of criminal justice policy and discuss the history and philosophy of criminal justice to reveal the distinctiveness of the U.S. criminal justice system. In other chapters, law and lawmaking are examined as the foundation of the criminal justice system, followed by a consideration of law enforcement. In a discussion of the adversary system of adjudication, prosecution and defense are treated as separate but equal partners whose roles make sense only as they interrelate in the ethical model established by society. The court processes are analyzed in detail from the perspectives of lawyers and judges, followed by an exploration of the problems of corrections. The concluding chapter portrays current strategies and tactics in criminal justice, some of which may be suitable for future applications. Techniques successfully implemented in the fields of juvenile delinquency and organized crime are described with a view toward broadening their scope. The appendixes discuss how to understand Supreme Court decisions, the rights of the accused, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution, as well as sample constitutional cases. A subject index is provided.