Selective Prosecution
Selective Prosecution occurs when a prosecutor singles out an individual or group for criminal charges based on arbitrary, discriminatory, or impermissible factors such as race, religion, gender, political affiliation, or the exercise of constitutional rights, rather than on legitimate legal or evidentiary grounds. This constitutes an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and a violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses.
Scope:
Discriminatory Enforcement: Prosecuting individuals from one demographic while ignoring similar conduct by others.
Retaliatory Motives: Targeting defendants because they exercised protected rights (e.g., free speech, association).
Arbitrary Distinctions: Pursuing charges inconsistently, without rational legal justification, against select defendants.
Unequal Application of Law: Using prosecutorial discretion to advance political, social, or institutional bias.
Examples:
Charging protesters of one political orientation while declining charges against those with opposing views engaged in the same conduct.
Pursuing harsher charges against minority defendants for offenses treated leniently in other populations.
Prosecuting a whistleblower for technical violations while ignoring the same violations by non-whistleblowers.
Related Standards:
United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456 (1996): Established the evidentiary burden for defendants alleging selective prosecution.
Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448 (1962): Recognized Equal Protection violations where prosecution is deliberately based on unjustifiable standards.
Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598 (1985): Prosecution may not be based on an individual’s exercise of constitutional rights.
ABA Standards for Criminal Justice 3-1.6: Prosecutors should exercise discretion impartially and without bias.
Consequences:
Selective prosecution claims, if proven, can result in dismissal of charges, suppression of evidence, judicial sanctions, reversal of convictions, and professional discipline for the prosecutor.
