Editing Selective prosecution (section)

{{short description|Legal defense based on claiming the prosecutor is discriminatory}}
{{Globalize|2name=the United States|2=USA|date=August 2024}}
{{Discrimination sidebar|expanded=Manifestations}}
In [[jurisprudence]], '''selective prosecution''' is a [[procedural defense]] in which [[defendant]]s argue that they should not be held criminally [[Legal liability|liable]] for breaking the [[law]] because the [[criminal justice]] system [[discrimination|discriminated]] against them by choosing to [[prosecute]]. In claims of selective prosecution, defendants essentially argue that it is irrelevant whether they are guilty of violating a law, but that the fact of being prosecuted is based upon forbidden reasons. Such a claim might, for example, entail an argument that persons of different age, [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[religion]], sex, [[gender]], or political alignment, were engaged in the same illegal acts for which the defendant is being tried yet were not prosecuted, and that the defendant is being prosecuted ''specifically'' because of a bias as to that class.