Court Opinion

ID: 9818017
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 05:09:29.973555+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:14:28.443437
License: Public Domain

KOZINSKI, Chief Judge,
dissenting from the order denying the petition for rehearing en banc:
I join every word of Judge O’Scannlain’s well-reasoned dissent, but I want to call particular attention to footnote 2. As Judge O’Scannlain points out, there is no such thing as a “smell test” when it comes to detecting prosecutorial misconduct, as such a test would eviscerate the broad power that the Constitution gives to the executive branch to make prosecutorial decisions. A test based on the olfactory apparatus of each district judge, rather than on well-defined and closely cabined legal standards, would give the district courts far too much say over who gets prosecuted and when. That would be wholly inconsistent with our role as impartial adjudicators, and with the prosecutor’s independent authority to bring charges.