How have courts treated the issue of government misconduct in a civil case?

The issue of whether government misconduct violates notions of constitutional due process is a question of law which is reviewed de novo. United States v. Wylie, 625 F.2d 1371, 1378 (9th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1080 (1981). As a defense, government misconduct is a close relative of entrapment and has been applied where the involvement of the government in the criminal activity "reach[es] such proportions as to bar conviction of a predisposed defendant as a matter of due process." Hampton v. United States, 425 U.S. 484, 493 (1976) (Powell, J., concurring).