Professor Ben Trachtenberg and Professor Anne Alexander have written “Show Me Criminal Procedure,” a criminal procedure casebook available to students at no cost. Professors Trachtenberg and Alexander received funding from the University of Missouri System’s Affordable & Open Educational Resources initiative to support the creation of this book, as well as funding from the UM System’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

By assigning the 850-page “Show Me Criminal Procedure” to his fall 2018 students in Criminal Procedure, Professor Trachtenberg saved Mizzou Law students about $10,000 in combined casebook costs. His spring 2019 students will save about the same amount. Students may read the book on their computers, or they may print it themselves. In addition, the MU Bookstore has agreed to print books for around $30 each for any students who prefer hard copies.

After making minor updates, Professors Trachtenberg and Alexander plan to release the entire book online (with a Creative Commons license), allowing faculty anywhere in the world to save their students thousands of dollars each semester should they choose to adopt the book. Teaching notes and slides will be available to faculty adopters at no charge.

The book was inspired in part by Professor Trachtenberg’s 2016 article in the Saint Louis University Law Journal, “Choosing a Criminal Procedure Casebook: On Lesser Evils and Free Books,” in which he called upon universities to fund the creation of books like this.