Westlaw Database Directory

Summary
Database Name: Wharton's Criminal Law

Database Identifier: CRIMLAW

Coverage
Current September 2009 Update

Content Highlights:
Wharton's Criminal Law includes a general overview of criminal law principles, in addition to expert analysis of substantive criminal law in both state and federal jurisdictions, detailed discussion of criminal law defenses, and in-depth discussion of the Model Penal Code.

Highlights of September 2009 Update:

New features and recent developments in the 2009-2010 supplements to Wharton's Criminal Law, 15th Edition include:

U.S. v. Martin, 523 F.3d 281 (4th Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 238, 172 L. Ed. 2d 181 (2008) (the federal arson statute applies where the building damaged by fire was used in interstate commerce or in any activity affecting interstate commerce)

Moore v. Quarterman, 517 F.3d 781 (5th Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 81, 172 L. Ed. 2d 71 (2008) (To establish "mental retardation," and thus death ineligibility under Texas capital sentencing scheme, defendant must demonstrate: significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning; accompanied by related limitations in adaptive functioning; and onset prior to the age of eighteen)

American Civil Liberties Union v. Gonzales, 478 F. Supp. 2d 775 (E.D. Pa. 2007), order aff'd, 534 F.3d 181, 36 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2155 (3d Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 1032, 173 L. Ed. 2d 293 (2009) (Statute criminalizing transmission, over the World Wide Web, of sexually explicit materials which were available to and harmful to minors, was not narrowly tailored to Congress' compelling interest of protecting minors, and thus prohibited protected speech, in violation of the First Amendment)

People v. Lackey, 48 A.D.3d 982, 853 N.Y.S.2d 668 (3d Dep't 2008), leave to appeal denied, 10 N.Y.3d 936, 862 N.Y.S.2d 342, 892 N.E.2d 408 (2008) (prior complaints of sexual abuse may be admissible if the defense proves that the complaints were false and of sufficient similarity to the charged crime to suggest a pattern of false complaints)

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Contents
Content Type: Treatise

This database contains Wharton's Criminal Law. It provides definitions of specific crimes and discussion of defenses. There are also examples from the Model Penal Code to assist in preparing criminal cases. A document is a section of the text, index or other subdivision of the publication.

Publisher/Provider: West, a Thomson business

Author: Charles E. Torcia, Esq. has been a professor of law at numerous universities including Dickenson School of Law, Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William and Mary, and New York University School of Law. Professor Torcia has also authored the 14th Edition of Wharton's Criminal Evidence and the 13th Edition of Wharton's Criminal Procedure.

CITE AS:

1 Wharton's Criminal Law x 1:1 (15th ed.)

CRIMLAW

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Related Research
Databases related by topic:

CRIMEVID

Wharton's Criminal Evidence

SUBCRL

Substantive Criminal Law

MGCAPCASE

contains the full text of the Federal Judicial Center's Resource Guide for Managing Capital Cases.

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