The Minority Alliance: A Daily Journal Malicious Prosecution, Violation of Fourth Amendment 42 U.S.C. § 1983, False Arrest False Imprisonment, Racial Profiling, First Amendment Retaliation, Equal Protection Clause. Barry I hope my children are safe today. I dont want any social worker terrorizing them and no I am not taking any psychological evaluation for suffering racism from my childrens schools. That would be terrorism. No can do. Under Georgia law, a criminal prosecution that is pursued maliciously and without probable cause can create a civil cause of action. To state a claim for malicious prosecution, a plaintiff must show (1) prosecution for a criminal offense; (2) instigated without probable cause; (3) with malice; (4) under a valid warrant, accusation or summons; (5) which has terminated favorably to the plaintiff; and (6) has damaged the plaintiff. Malice may be inferred from a lack of probable cause Racial Profiling Racial classifications are permitted only if the government meets the heavy burden of demonstrating that the discrimination is necessary to achieve a compelling government purpose. In other words, the government must show an extremely important reason for its action and it must demonstrate that the goal cannot be achieved through a less-discriminatory alternative. Racially selective law enforcement violates our nation’s constitutional values at the most fundamental level. Unequal application of the criminal laws to white and black persons was one of the central evils addressed by the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment. The requirements for a claim of racially selective law enforcement draw on what the Supreme Court has called ordinary equal protection standards.” Equal Protection Violation Under the equal protection clauses of the United States and Georgia Constitutions, the government is required to treat similarly situated individuals in a similar manner. The doctrine of equal protection is triggered only if similarly situated parties are treated differently. If the parties in question are not so situated, there can be no violation of equal protection. That is the law. Because the equal protection clauses lend themselves to expansive interpretation, courts have defined and restricted these clauses through common law. Three questions are presented in an equal protection case:
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 10:07:00 +0000