Sherman v. United States
1958 United States Supreme Court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Sherman v. United States?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
Sherman v. United States, 356 U.S. 369 (1958), was a United States Supreme Court case on the issue of entrapment. Unanimously, the Court overturned the conviction of a recovering New York drug addict who had been repeatedly solicited for drug sales by a fellow former addict who was working with federal agents.
Quick Facts Sherman v. United States, Argued January 16, 1958 Decided May 19, 1958 ...
Sherman v. United States | |
---|---|
Argued January 16, 1958 Decided May 19, 1958 | |
Full case name | Sherman v. United States |
Citations | 356 U.S. 369 (more) 78 S. Ct. 819; 2 L. Ed. 2d 848; 1958 U.S. LEXIS 1024 |
Case history | |
Prior | Defendant convicted; conviction reversed, Second Circuit, 200 F.2d 880; defendant convicted after retrial; conviction affirmed, 240 F.2d 949; certiorari granted, 353 U.S. 935. |
Subsequent | Conviction reversed |
Holding | |
Government cannot overcome entrapment defense by dissociating itself from informant's conduct; prior related offenses not sufficient to demonstrate predisposition to commit crime if they occurred long before investigation began. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Warren, joined by Black, Burton, Clark, Whittaker |
Concurrence | Frankfurter, joined by Douglas, Harlan, Brennan |
Laws applied | |
Statutory construction of entrapment |
Close
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The case was a virtual replay of Sorrells v. United States, the 1932 case in which the justices had first recognized entrapment as a defense. As in that case, all agreed the defendant had been entrapped, but the majority and a separate concurrence were at odds over what the best grounding for the entrapment defense was.