Law, Social Science, and the Criminal Courts, Second Edition by Alisa Smith

"This book fills a gap in the field of criminal justice and law and society. It integrates legal cases and empirical research on social science questions confronted by the criminal courts. In other words, it examines how social science impacts criminal law and procedure. The book is organized around the criminal court process beginning with issues related to pretrial proceedings and ending with issues concerning sentencing. Specifically, the book provides an introduction to the history of social science used by the courts and the types of social science admitted as evidence in the courts. The chapters that follow provide seminal legal cases and empirical, social science research on a variety of topics ranging from pretrial publicity and racial profiling to Megan's Law and the death penalty. Smith introduces students to the "law in action" by demonstrating how social science influences the courts and the courts influence society. Moreover, students are given the opportunity to critically review court opinions and social science studies that test some of the assumptions relied on by the courts in rendering their decisions"--