Open Education Resources (OER)

From Open Textbook Library

From Open Textbook Library

From Open Textbook Library

From Open Textbook Library

"This book provides an overview of the criminal justice system of the United States. It is intended to provide the introductory student a concise yet balanced introduction to the workings of the legal system as well as policing, courts, corrections, and juvenile justice. Six chapters, each divided into five sections, provide the reader a consistent, comfortable format as well as providing the instructor with a consistent framework for ease of instructional design."

"This text provides edited and abridged cases that are intended to be easy to read and provide lower-division students with a gentle introduction to key legal concepts that define the workings of our criminal justice system."

This book is a comprehensive text that covers core concepts of the American Criminal Justice System and other areas in the criminal justice system including theory, policing, courts, corrections, and the juvenile justice system.

"This courseware includes resources copyrighted and openly licensed by multiple individuals and organizations. Click the words “Licenses and Attributions” at the bottom of each page for copyright and licensing information specific to the material on that page."

This class from MIT OpenCourseWare looks "at the relationship between drugs and such phenomena as poverty, religion, technology, inter-generational conflict, colonialism, and global capitalism." It includes an evaluation of America's drug laws.

An MIT OpenCourseWare class examining "the central features of law as a social institution and as a feature of popular culture. We will explore the nature of law as a set of social systems, central actors in the systems, legal reasoning, and the relationship of the legal form and reasoning to social change.

This free course, Justice, fairness and mediation, considers the concepts of justice and fairness from various perspectives but mainly focuses on effective policing and community empowerment.

Can the concept of human rights be applied across borders or are rights culturally specific? Is it realistic, or even desirable, to aim at an international system based on universal principles of justice? This free course, Rights and justice in international relations, takes a critical view of the assumption that 'rights are a good thing' and looks at the problems that arise when they are applied in the international arena.

Pro bono (‘for the public good’ in Latin) involves lawyers and law students giving up their time on a voluntary basis to help people who need legal assistance but do not have the means to afford it. In this free course, Pro bono work and social justice, you will consider the role of pro bono in law schools. You will examine the relationship between pro bono and legal aid, and evaluate whether pro bono should be mandatory. The theme of social justice will be explored and you will examine how innovation can address the justice gap. You will consider the development of the online court and the role that crowdfunding may play in facilitating access to justice.

In this course, we will be studying the major current issues facing the criminal justice system. We will use as our starting point the 2015 President's 21st Century Policing Task Force report on the police. This report came about after the death of Michael Brown, shot and killed by a Ferguson Missouri police officer. Many of the significant challenges to the way policing is carried out today came about following that one event. This course will allow you the student to examine the different calls for police reform and research the pros and cons of each.

Take a virtual tour of The National Library of Medicine's exhibit on the history of forensic science. Includes cases, photographs, and educational resources.

"This resource provides statistical data pertaining to state and local law enforcement, including: personnel, operating expenditures, 9-1-1 participation, computers and information systems, video cameras, police-public contact, and law enforcement training academies."