Keith Jacobson v. United States
Decided April 6, 1992. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 90-1124 · 503 U.S. 540 (1992) · Cited 691 times
Holding
The prosecution failed, as a matter of law, to adduce evidence to support the jury verdict that Jacobson was predisposed, independent of the Government's acts and beyond a reasonable doubt, to violate the law by receiving child pornography through the mails.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Byron Raymond White · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
Dissenting · 4
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Sandra Day O'Connor · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Sherman v. United States · 356 U.S. 369 (1958)
- Sorrells v. United States · 287 U.S. 435 (1932)
- Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
- Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
- New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
- United States v. Russell · 411 U.S. 423 (1973)
- Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
- Mathews v. United States · 485 U.S. 58 (1988)
- Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
- Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Dixon v. United States · 548 U.S. 1 (2006)
- United States v. Jimenez Recio · 537 U.S. 270 (2003)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).