Striking the Balance

Award-winning professor and author Matthew Lippman enhances teaching and learning with his newest text, Striking the Balance: Debating Criminal Justice and Law. Organizing the book around clashing points of view on contemporary issues in criminal justice and criminal law, Lippman puts each debate into context for students to help them develop a better understanding of the issue. Designed to develop the reader’s critical thinking skills, the text offers students summaries of contrasting views from original sources, questions for classroom discussion, and engaging "You Decide" activities. Additionally, chapter topics are independent of one another, giving instructors the flexibility to customize the material to their individual course organization. Edited to minimize technical legal terms, the text is the perfect companion to any criminal law or introductory criminal justice textbook.  

Matthew Lippman is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and has taught criminal law and criminal procedure for more than 30 years. He has also taught courses on civil liberties, law and society, and terrorism and has taught international criminal law at UIC School of Law. He earned a doctorate in political science from Northwestern University, earned a master of laws from Harvard Law School, and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar. He has been voted by the graduating seniors at UIC to receive the Silver Circle Award for outstanding teaching on six separate occasions and has also received the UIC Flame Award from the University of Illinois Alumni Association, as well as the Excellence in Teaching Award, the Teaching Recognition (Portfolio) Award, the HOPE Award, and the Honors College Fellow of the Year Award. The university chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the criminal justice honors society, named him Criminal Justice Professor of the Year on three occasions. In 2008, he was recognized as a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Master Teacher. He was honored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which named him Commencement Marshal at the May 2012 graduation. Professor Lippman is also recognized in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Professor Lippman is author of 100 articles and author or coauthor of six books. These publications focus on criminal law and criminal procedure, international human rights, and comparative law. He also is author of five other SAGE volumes: Criminal Procedure (4th ed., 2020), Essential Criminal Law (3rd ed., 2020), Law and Society (3rd ed., 2021), Criminal Evidence (2016), and Striking the Balance: Debating Criminal Justice and Law (2018). In 2018, he received the Cornerstone Author Award from SAGE Publishing. His work is cited in hundreds of academic publications and by domestic and international courts and organizations. He also has served on legal teams appearing before the International Court of Justice in The Hague and submitting briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, has testified as an expert witness on international law before numerous state and federal courts, and has consulted with both private organizations and branches of the U.S. government. Professor Lippman regularly appears as a radio and television commentator and is frequently quoted in leading newspapers. He has served in every major administrative position at UIC in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice including Department Head, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Director of Graduate Studies.