The vindictive prosecution doctrine, rooted in the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, prohibits prosecutors from bringing or escalating charges against a defendant specifically to punish them for exercising constitutional rights such as the right to sue, appeal a conviction, or challenge government action. The doctrine traces to Blackledge v. Perry (1974) and North Carolina v. Pearce (1969). Courts have historically been reluctant to grant dismissals on this basis because defendants must overcome the presumption of regularity — the judicial assumption that prosecutors acted lawfully. However, courts may order discovery into the government's charging motivations when defendants present sufficient evidence of retaliatory intent.