Criminal Courts

            Dean John Champion is Professor of Criminal Justice, Texas A & M International University; Laredo, Texas. Dr. Champion has taught at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, California State University-Long Beach, and Minot State University.  He earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University and B.S. and M.A. degrees from Brigham Young University.  He also completed several years of law school at the Nashville School of Law.               Dr. Champion has written over 35 texts and/or edited works and maintains memberships in eleven professional organizations.  He is a lifetime member of the American Society of Criminology, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the American Sociological Association.  He is a former editor of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences/Anderson Publishing Company Series on Issues in Crime and Justice and the Journal of Crime and Justice.  He is a contributing author for the Encarta Encyclopedia 2000 for Microsoft.  He has been a Visiting Scholar for the National Center for Juvenile Justice and is a former president of the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association. He has also designed and/or offered numerous online courses for the University of Phoenix, Excelsior University, and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.               Among his published books for Prentice-Hall include Administration of Criminal Justice: Structure, Function, and Process (2003); Basic Statistics for Social Research (1970, 1981); Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology 3/e (1993, 2000, 2006); The Juvenile Justice System: Delinquency, Processing, and the Law 4/e (1992, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 forthcoming); Corrections in the United States: A Contemporary Perspective 4/e (1990, 1998, 2001, 2005); Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections 5/e (1990, 1996, 1999, 2005); Policing in the Community (w/George Rush) (1996); and The Administration of Justice Systems (2001). Dr. Champion's specialty interests include juvenile justice, criminal justice administration, corrections, and statistics/methods.

1.      Law: The Legal Battlefield

2.      The Structure of American Courts

3.      The Prosecution

4.      The Defense

5.      Judges

6.      Juries

7.      Pre-Trial Procedures: Initial Appearance, Bail Decision Making, and Alternative Dispute Resolution

8.      Pre-Trial Procedures: Plea Bargaining

9.      Trial Process and Procedures

10.  Sentencing and Appeals

11.  Juvenile Courts, Juvenile Rights, and Processing

12.  Courts, Media, and the Litigation Explosion