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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
Jacobson v. United States
Citation:
503 U.S. 540, 112 S.Ct. 1535, 118 L.Ed.2d 174.Facts
The defendant, a 56 year old veteran-turned-farmer, ordered two magazines and a brochure from a California adult bookstore in February of 1984. The magazines contained photographs of nude preteen and teenage boys. The defendant testified that he was surprised there were pictures of young boys without clothes on, but that he was not offended because he thought many of the pictures were out in a rural or outdoor setting and he did not draw any sexual connotation with the images. His receipt of the magazines, at that time, were legal under both federal and Nebraska law. Within three months, however, the law with respect to child pornography changed and receiving sexually explicit depictions of children through the mail became illegal.
For the next 2.5 years, two Government agencies, through five fictitious organizations and a bogus pen pal, explored the defendant’s willingness to break the new law by ordering sexually explicit photographs of children through the mail. The government sent the defendant several brochures, mailings, materials, and questionnaires from the fake organizations. Eventually, the defendant placed an order for a pornographic magazine showing boys having sex and he was arrested upon it’s delivery. After his arrest, his home was searched. The Government found no materials other than what they had sent to him to indicate that he was actively interested in child pornography. When asked why he placed the order at trial, he testified that he “wanted to see what the material was” and that he “didn’t know for sure what kind of sexual action they were referring to.”
He was convicted of violating the new law. He appealed, arguing that it was an entrapment, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
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