Sixth Circuit rejects discovery for selective prosecution claim

Though not quite a sentencing issue, the Sixth Circuit’s ruling today in US v. Thorpe, No. 05-2220 (6th Cir. Dec. 27, 2006) (available here), should interest anyone concerned about the intersection of federal criminal law and race.  Here is the introduction from the ruling:

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan indicted James Thorpe for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).  Thorpe, an African-American, moved to dismiss the indictment on the ground that he was being selectively prosecuted because of his race.  After conducting a preliminary investigation in support of his claim, Thorpe formally moved the district court for discovery of all of the government’s files regarding the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program under which Thorpe was being prosecuted.

The court granted Thorpe’s motion, reasoning that Thorpe could not support his selective-prosecution claim without the requested materials and that the harm to the government, which had already disclosed some of the requested materials to another judge in a different case, would be minimal.  When the government refused to fully comply with the district court’s discovery order, the court dismissed with prejudice the indictment against Thorpe.  For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court granting Thorpe’s discovery motion, REINSTATE the government’s indictment against Thorpe, and REMAND the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.