Jacobson v. United States case brief summary

Jacobson v. United States (Justice White delivering majority opinion in 5-4 decision)

 

Facts: Jacobsen is convicted for child pornography following a 26-month investigation involving repeated direct solicitations from the government and schemes that involved the government setting up five different fake companies. He eventually orders a single picture and that is the only piece of child pornography found in his house. 

 

·         Defendant must show: 1) inducement; 2) lack of predisposition.

·         26 months of government solicitation will qualify as inducement.

·         The fact that Jacobson was found with questionable material at one point does not establish predisposition since the material was not illegal at the time.

 

Note: There might be potential overlap between inducement and predisposition. A person otherwise not predisposed might become so if the inducement rises from $150 to $150,000.