Selective prosecution

Selective prosecution is the use of charging or non-charging decisions to advantage political allies and disadvantage political opponents. The hallmark is a divergence between conduct and outcome: identical or similar conduct produces aggressive charges when committed by disfavored individuals and no charges when committed by favored ones. Concrete forms include the opening of grand jury investigations against political opponents based on thin evidence, the indictment of low-level associates as pressure on principals, and the public announcement of charging decisions timed to political effect. Prosecutorial discretion is legitimate; selective prosecution is what happens when discretion is applied based on whose side the target is on.