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ENTRAPMENT TARGETS AND TACTICS: JACOBSON V. UNITED STATES

NCJ Number
142551
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: (May-June 1993) Pages: 241-252
Author(s)
M L Piccarreta; J Keenan
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article examines the rationale and implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Jacobson v. United States (1992) regarding entrapment targets and tactics.
Abstract
For 2 1/2 years Federal agents tried to entice a 56- year-old Nebraska farmer to buy child pornography through the mail. When Keith Jacobson finally succumbed to the solicitations and made a purchase, he was arrested and convicted in Federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court found that the government's conduct constituted entrapment as a matter of law because there was no evidence that Mr. Jacobson was inclined to commit this violation before the government made him a target. Although the Court clearly condemned the government's conduct, it declined to face the larger issue of what restrictions, if any, should be placed on the government's ability to target individuals for entrapment operations. The defense bar should use "Jacobson" as an opportunity to urge appellate courts and State legislatures to follow the lead of the Nevada Supreme Court in Shrader v. State to establish the defense of entrapment as a matter of law where law enforcement officers lack reasonable suspicion to suspect an individual of engaging in criminal activity prior to the instigation of an undercover operation. Additionally, defense counsel should urge their State courts and legislatures to follow those jurisdictions that have adopted the objective theory to ensure that the focus of the defense is on the propriety of the government's conduct and to eliminate the prejudice that results from a thorough scrutiny of a defendant's life to determine if he/she had any propensity to commit the act charged. 49 footnotes