Lefebure v. D'Aquilla

Summary

The Fifth Circuit held that a crime victim lacks Article III standing to sue a prosecutor for failing to investigate or prosecute her assailant, because the causal connection between non-prosecution and the victim's injury is too speculative under *Linda R.S. v. Richard D.* The court distinguished failure-to-prosecute claims (no standing) from failure-to-protect claims (standing may exist), but found the plaintiff's allegations of a conspiracy to shield her rapist from prosecution constituted a failure-to-prosecute claim. The dissent argued that the plaintiff had standing under a failure-to-protect theory based on allegations of a discriminatory policy of underenforcing sexual assault laws against women. The case reinforces the principle that private citizens lack a judicially cognizable interest in the prosecution of others, and that only the Supreme Court can overturn *Linda R.S.*

Holdings

1. No. Under Linda R.S. v. Richard D., a citizen lacks standing to challenge the policies of the prosecuting authority when she herself is neither prosecuted nor threatened with prosecution. The connection between non-prosecution and injury is too speculative to satisfy causation and redressability requirements. This rule applies even when the non-prosecution is allegedly based on a discriminatory policy, as the same was alleged in Linda R.S.
2. The claim is a failure-to-prosecute claim, not a failure-to-protect claim. The plaintiff does not allege that the police refused to protect her before future assault; she alleges that prosecutors refused to investigate or prosecute after the assault took place.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a crime victim has standing under Article III to sue a prosecutor for failing to investigate or prosecute her assailant, particularly when the failure is alleged to be part of a discriminatory policy.
2. Whether the claim is properly characterized as a failure-to-prosecute claim (barred by Linda R.S.) or a failure-to-protect claim (cognizable under Shipp v. McMahon).

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded