What was the US Supreme Court decision in Sherman v. US?

Answer 1

Sherman v. US, 356 US 396 (1958)

In Sherman v. US, the Supreme Court upheld an earlier determination in Sorrells v. US, 287 US 435 (1932) that entrapment is an absolute defense barring prosecution for a crime (in this case, distribution of drugs). The Court held the following prohibited activities qualified as entrapment, an inducement by law enforcement officials or their agents to commit a crime the person would not otherwise commit.

"(a) Entrapment occurs only when the criminal conduct was "the product of the creative activity" of law enforcement officials.

"(b) The undisputed testimony of the Government's witnesses established entrapment as a matter of law.

"(c) Although the informer was not being paid, the Government cannot disown him or disclaim responsibility for his actions, since he was an active government informer who was himself awaiting trial on narcotics charges, for which he was later given a suspended sentence.

"(d) It make no difference that the sales for which petitioner as convicted occurred after a series of sales, since they were not independent acts subsequent to the inducement, but were part of a course of conduct which was the product of the inducement.

"(e) The Government cannot make such use of an informer and then claim disassociation through ignorance of the way in which he operated.

"(f) The evidence was insufficient to overcome the defense of entrapment by showing that petitioner evinced a "ready complaisance" to accede to the informer's request.

"(g) This Court adheres to the doctrine of the Court's opinion in Sorrells v. United States, 287 U. S. 435, and declines to reassess the doctrine of entrapment according to the principles announced in the separate opinion Mr. Justice Roberts in that case, such issues not having been raised by the parties either in this Court or in the lower courts."