Selective Prosecution Claims

Front 1

Standard for evaluating claims

Back 1

Equal protection Clause Standards: discriminatory effect and discriminatory intent

ARMSTRONG
WAYTE

Front 2

Discriminatory effect

Back 2

Show that other people with different characteristics (race, speech, gender, etc.) have committed same crime and are not being prosecuted to the same degree

Front 3

Selective prosecution claims rarely win because:

Back 3

Discovery catch-22
Intense power of prosecutorial discretion

Front 4

Discovery catch-22

Back 4

Defendants can't get information about other prosecutions/non-prosecutions without going through government files

Courts won't grant discovery unless they have made sufficient pleading

Front 5

Types of selective prosecution claims

Back 5

Discrimination
Vindictive
Pretextual
Impermissibly arbitrary

Front 6

Discrimination claim

Back 6

P claims he is being prosecuted differently b/c of some protected characteristic

ARMSTRONG
WAYTE

Front 7

Vindictive

Back 7

P claims he is being prosecuted more harshly b/c he decided to exercise constitutional rights

Front 8

Pretextual

Back 8

P claims he is being prosecuted for some reason other than criminal punishment

BROGAN

Front 9

Impermissibly arbitrary

Back 9

MANTEL

Front 10

Vindictive claims today

Back 10

Don't really exist b/c of:
- broad prosecutorial discretion
- courts try to discourage appeals to improve efficiency
- Pros don't have to be sure of charges at early stages, so change is foreseeable