⚖️ Sorrells v. United States

Monday, December 19, 1932 All day

Entrapment is a valid defense to a criminal charge. Decided December 19, 1932 (argued November 8, 1932). Opinion of the Court: Charles Evans Hughes → go there Dissenting: McReynolds (no opinion). Topic: Other areas. Sorrells v. United States, 287 U.S. 435 (1932), is a Supreme Court case in which the justices unanimously recognized the entrapment defense. However, while the majority opinion by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes located the key to entrapment in the defendant's predisposition or lack thereof to commit the crime, Owen Roberts' concurring opinion proposed instead that it be rooted in an analysis of the conduct of the law enforcement agents making the arrest. Although the Court has stuck with predisposition, the dispute has hung over entrapment jurisprudence ever since. Wiki link

⚖️ Sorrells v. United States