In Linda R.S., the court ruled that the complainant did not have the legal standing to keep the prosecutors' office from discriminately applying a statute criminalizing non-payment of child support. In dicta, the court articulated the then-prevailing view that a crime victim cannot compel a criminal prosecution because "a private citizen lacks a judicially cognizable interest in the prosecution or non-prosecution of another."[1] This ruling served as a high-water mark in the shift away from the victim-centric approach to criminal justice,[4] making it clear that victims in the 1970s had "no formal legal status beyond that of a witness or piece of evidence."[5]