Contents: Introduction -- "Criminal justice" in America -- Crime and the nature of law -- Legal and behavioral aspects of crime -- Criminal statistics and the extent of crime -- The Process of justice: an overview -- Police systems in the United state: History and structure -- Enforcing the law and keeping thepeace: The nature and scope of police work -- The Law of arrest, search and seizure: police and the constitution -- Beyond the limits of the law: Police crime, corruption and brutality -- The Structure of American courts -- Judges, prosecutors and other performers at the Bar of justice -- The Business of the court: from first appearance through trial -- Sentencing, Appearance through trial from walnut street to alcatraz: The American prison experience -- Penitentiaries, prisons and other correctional institutions: A Look inside the inmate rights -- Probation, parole and community-based correction -- Juvenile justice: an overview.