Final answer:
The federal government's imminent danger standard for use of deadly force is C) Clear and present danger. This standard is applied when an action poses a significant threat to public safety, and it has its origins in Supreme Court jurisprudence concerning the limitation of First Amendment rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
The part of the federal government's imminent danger standard for use of deadly force that you are asking about is C) Clear and present danger. This standard was defined by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the case of Schenck v. United States, which stated that the First Amendment right to free speech can be limited if it poses a clear and present danger to the security of the United States or its people.
For example, if someone falsely shouts 'fire!' in a crowded theater, causing panic, this could be seen as posing a clear and present danger and could justify limiting that person's free speech to prevent harm.
In a scenario where the police suspect individuals of committing an armed robbery, the use of deadly force governed by the standard cannot be based on the lesser evidentiary standards of 'probable cause' or 'reasonable suspicion' alone.
The rationale behind this standard is similar to the severity of proof required in a criminal trial, in which evidence must be 'convincing beyond a reasonable doubt' to justify the highest consequences on human life, such as in a capital homicide case.