This handbook provides an accessible, high-quality, and comprehensive introduction to and overview of the operation of the American criminal justice system. It is divided into five sections covering the purposes and functions of the system, its problems and priorities, and its main institutions-police and policing, prosecution and sentencing, and community and institutional corrections. Highly regarded in the field, Michael Tonry brings together a mix of established, senior scholars and up-and-coming writers to provide authoritative and cutting-edge contributions on hot-button topics, from the justice system's handling of immigration and terrorism to racial profiling, parole, and re-entry, as well as bread-and-butter issues like incapacitation, jails, drugs, and police strategy. As countries vary substantially in the detailed operation of some agencies and few scholars have detailed knowledge of the operation of two or more countries' systems, the focus is principally, though not exclusively, on the American justice system.