Supreme Court rules in Wayte v. United States that prosecution cannot punish protected speech

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Wayte v. United States on May 13, 1985, upholding the government's "passive enforcement" selective service policy but holding that the First Amendment bars any prosecution motivated by a desire to punish constitutionally protected activity. Justice Powell's majority held that prosecutors may not select defendants specifically because they exercised rights to speak, assemble, or petition. The ruling established that targeting protected expression crosses from permissible prosecutorial discretion into unconstitutional vindictive prosecution.