Evolution of the Federal Law of Entrapment: A Need for a New Approach, The

The entrapment defense has been used to provide a check on government investigation of criminal activity. Historically, there has been much disagreement about the proper basis of the entrapment defense and its applicability to particular situations. In Jacobson v. United State, the United States Supreme Court had occasion to examine the proper role of the entrapment defense in the federal courts. This Note will explain and critique the reasoning used by the Court in Jacobson, as well as that used by proponents of a competing theory of the defense, and recommend a more rational way to deal with government inducement.