Federal Reference Pocket Guide Bundle!

Includes Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 2019 Edition Pocket Guide and Federal Rules of Evidence Edition Pocket Guide.

The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure are the procedural rules that govern how federal criminal prosecutions are conducted in United States district courts and the general trial courts of the U.S. government. They are the companion to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The admissibility and use of evidence in criminal proceedings (as well as civil) are governed by the separate Federal Rules of Evidence. The rules are promulgated by the Supreme Court of the United States, under its statutory authority under the Rules Enabling Act The Supreme Court must transmit a copy of its rules to the United States Congress no later than May 1 of the year in which they are to go into effect, and the new rule can then become effective no earlier than December 1 of that year.
 
Congress retains the power to reject the Court's proposed rules or amendments, modify them, or enact rules or amendments itself. Congress has rarely rejected the Court's proposed amendments, though it has frequently passed its own. The rules are initially drafted by an Advisory Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which consists of appointed judges, U.S. Department of Justice representatives, practicing lawyers, and legal scholars. After public comment, the draft rules are submitted to the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which in turn submits them to the Judicial Conference, which finally recommends them to the Supreme Court for approval. The explanatory notes of the drafting Advisory Committee are published with the final adopted rules and are frequently used as an authority on their interpretation.
 
Under the Sumners Courts Act, the U.S. Attorney General was given the responsibility of transmitting amendments to the rules to Congress, though this was amended in 1949 to give that duty to the Chief Justice. The turn-around period for the rules becoming effective was originally one full congressional session. This was amended in 1950 to impose the May 1 deadline but with a 90-day delay in effectiveness. In 1988, authorization for the Rules was incorporated under the Rules Enabling Act and codified at 28 U.S.C. §§ 2072, 2074.
 
Federal Rules of Evidence was first adopted in 1975, the Federal Rules of Evidence codify the evidence law that applies in United States federal courts. In addition, many states in the United States have either adopted the Federal Rules of Evidence, with or without local variations or have revised their own evidence rules or codes to at least partially follow the federal rules. In general, the purpose of rules of evidence is to regulate the evidence that the jury may use to reach a verdict.
 
Historically, the rules of evidence reflected a marked distrust of jurors. The Federal Rules of Evidence strive to eliminate this distrust and encourage admitting evidence in close cases. Even so, some rules perpetuate the historical mistrust of jurors, expressly limiting the kind of evidence they may receive or the purpose for which they may consider it. At the same time, the Rules center on a few basic ideas – relevance, unfair surprise, efficiency, reliability, and overall fairness of the adversary process. The Rules grant trial judges broad discretion to admit evidence in the face of competing arguments from the parties. This ensures that the jury has a broad spectrum of evidence before it, but not so much evidence that is repetitive, inflammatory, or unnecessarily confusing.
 
The Rules define relevance broadly and relax the common-law prohibitions on witnesses' competence to testify. Hearsay standards are similarly relaxed, as are the standards for authenticating written documents. At the same time, the judge retains the power to exclude evidence that has too great a danger of unfair prejudice to a party due to its inflammatory, repetitive, or confusing nature or its propensity to waste the court's time.

$30.99 incl. S/H & Tracking.

**This bundle of 2 books is shipped together as a set. All book prices below INCLUDE Shipping & Handling with Tracking.