In some cases, selective enforcement may be desirable.[1] For example, a verbal warning to a teenager may effectively alter their behavior without resorting to legal punishment and with the added benefit of reducing governmental legal costs. In other cases, selective enforcement may be inevitable. For example, it may be impractical for police officers to issue traffic tickets to every driver they observe exceeding the speed limit, so they may have no choice but to limit action to the most flagrant examples of reckless driving. Therefore, the mere fact that a law is selectively enforced against one person and not against another, absent bias or pattern of enforcement against a constitutionally-protected class, is not illegal.
Selective enforcement has become a topic of great discussion in the illegal immigration debate. The 2011 "Morton Memo"[2] laid out enforcement priorities for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and was intended to channel limited resources into prioritized pursuit of cases involving criminals and felons. It was interpreted as the waiver of active prosecution of non-criminal illegal aliens and the exclusive focus on criminal illegal aliens. Enforcement priorities were further defined by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which started in 2012. This uses the executive branch's discretionary authority to grant certain people who were illegally brought to the United States as minors the temporary authorization to live and work in the United States.
Michal Tamir, "Public Law as a Whole and Normative Duality: Reclaiming Administrative Insights in Enforcement Review", 12 Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights 43-99 (2006)
References
^Cane, Peter (2002). Responsibility in Law and Morality. Hart. p. 239. ISBN9781841133218.
selective, enforcement, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article,. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Selective enforcement news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message In law selective enforcement occurs when government officials such as police officers prosecutors or regulators exercise discretion which is the power to choose whether or how to punish a person who has violated the law The biased use of enforcement discretion such as that based on racial prejudice or corruption is usually considered a legal abuse and a threat to the rule of law In some cases selective enforcement may be desirable 1 For example a verbal warning to a teenager may effectively alter their behavior without resorting to legal punishment and with the added benefit of reducing governmental legal costs In other cases selective enforcement may be inevitable For example it may be impractical for police officers to issue traffic tickets to every driver they observe exceeding the speed limit so they may have no choice but to limit action to the most flagrant examples of reckless driving Therefore the mere fact that a law is selectively enforced against one person and not against another absent bias or pattern of enforcement against a constitutionally protected class is not illegal Contents 1 United States 1 1 Immigration law 2 See also 3 Further reading 4 ReferencesUnited States EditImmigration law Edit Selective enforcement has become a topic of great discussion in the illegal immigration debate The 2011 Morton Memo 2 laid out enforcement priorities for the U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was intended to channel limited resources into prioritized pursuit of cases involving criminals and felons It was interpreted as the waiver of active prosecution of non criminal illegal aliens and the exclusive focus on criminal illegal aliens Enforcement priorities were further defined by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which started in 2012 This uses the executive branch s discretionary authority to grant certain people who were illegally brought to the United States as minors the temporary authorization to live and work in the United States See also EditSelective prosecution Prosecutorial discretion Equality before the law Ticket fixingFurther reading EditMichal Tamir Public Law as a Whole and Normative Duality Reclaiming Administrative Insights in Enforcement Review 12 Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights 43 99 2006 References Edit Cane Peter 2002 Responsibility in Law and Morality Hart p 239 ISBN 9781841133218 Morton Memo Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Selective enforcement amp oldid 1134000107, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
