Law Professor's Treatise on Maryland Criminal Procedure Offers a Lifetime of Insights
December 20, 2013
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
The term "great books" tends to describe two different kinds of written work: the book that is filled with important ideas and interesting perspectives; or the book that offers history, context, and most important, solutions to problems that all of us—novices or experts—encounter in our daily lives.
Maryland Criminal Procedure, the recently published three-volume treatise by University of Baltimore School of Law Associate Professor Byron Warnken, J.D. '77, brings together both of these approaches, showcasing a lifetime of this scholar and practitioner’s labors in understanding how criminal law has evolved in Maryland, and how it functions in a variety of settings, from enforcement to trial to conviction. The book is gaining positive reviews throughout the state's legal community, and is already finding a home in law firms and courtrooms across Maryland.
Larry Gibson, professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and author of Young Thurgood, said, "Byron Warnken has written the most comprehensive and useful treatise ever published about criminal procedure in Maryland. For many years, Maryland lawyers and judges, legal scholars, and the public will be indebted to Professor Warnken."
Ronald Weich, dean of the UB School of Law, called the collection "Warnken's Magnum Opus."
Retired Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Irma S. Raker said, "The book will become the 'go to' for criminal law practitioners."
Warnken, who has taught at UB for 37 years and specializes in criminal law and constitutional criminal procedure, said he set out to write a treatise that is both easy to understand and applicable in a wide array of legal matters. Indeed, the collection examines more than 10,000 cases, statutes and rule citations. Its 34 different chapters focus on "Arrest & Stop and Frisk," "Fourth Amendment Remedies," "Double Jeopardy," "Victims' Rights," and other key areas of Maryland criminal law.
"My goal is to save an hour a week for lawyers and judges intimately involved in Maryland criminal law," Warnken said.
Warnken said he developed the book over time; shortly after he began teaching at UB he started to supplement his course with his own research and materials. Now, everything he teaches is the result of his own scholarship—an accomplishment perhaps unprecedented in Maryland legal history. The book gathers together this work and organizes it in a way that is useful to everyone from police officers to prosecutors and defense attorneys, to judges and jailers, and to those who assist the victims of crimes.
Maryland Criminal Procedure is available as a three-volume set on Amazon.
Learn more about the book, and download a sample chapter.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.