When a government agency or official applies a law to you but not to others in the same situation, that is called selective enforcement. It happens when the government targets you specifically because of who you are, what you believe, or because you exercised a constitutional right. This kind of unfair treatment is not just frustrating—it may be a violation of your civil rights, and you may have grounds to sue for liability.
Selective enforcement breaks the basic promise of equal treatment under the law. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” That means a police officer cannot decide to ticket you for jaywalking while letting everyone else cross the same street without a ticket, if the reason for singling you out is your race, religion, political opinion, or because you criticized the government. The same principle applies to building inspectors, zoning boards, school administrators, and any government employee who enforces rules.
To win a civil rights liability case for selective enforcement, you need to prove two things. First, you must show that others who broke the same rule were not punished. This is called disparate treatment. If you were the only person cited for an open container violation on a block where dozens of people had beer cans, that pattern points to selective enforcement. Second, you must prove that the government acted with a discriminatory purpose. That does not require a written confession. You can use circumstantial evidence—for example, a police officer who made racist remarks, a pattern of targeting people of a certain ethnicity, or evidence that you were punished right after you filed a complaint against the city.
A common type of selective enforcement case involves retaliation. If you speak out at a town hall meeting against a local policy, and the next week the city inspector gives you a citation for a minor code violation that has been ignored for years, that may be retaliation. The government cannot use its enforcement power to silence critics. The Supreme Court has made clear that even if the law you violated is valid, the government cannot enforce it against you because you exercised free speech.
Another frequent scenario is racial profiling. If you are pulled over for a traffic violation that occurs just as often among drivers of other races, but you are the only one stopped because of your skin color, that is selective enforcement. Courts have allowed plaintiffs to use statistical evidence showing an overwhelming disparity in stops or citations to support their claim. For example, a city where African Americans make up ten percent of drivers but receive eighty percent of traffic stops may have a problem that goes beyond random chance.
But not every case of selective enforcement succeeds. The government can defend itself by arguing that it had a rational, non-discriminatory reason for focusing on you. For instance, if you run a business that has been cited for safety violations twice before, the inspector’s extra attention is based on history, not bias. Also, the government may claim that resources are limited—they cannot enforce every law everywhere, so they choose to concentrate on certain areas or certain violations. That is legal as long as the choice is not based on a prohibited reason like race or retaliation.
What can you do if you believe you are a victim of selective enforcement? First, document everything. Write down the names and badge numbers of officers, the date and time, and any witnesses. Save tickets, letters, or inspection reports. Keep a log of similar incidents involving other people. Second, file a complaint with the agency’s internal affairs or with a civil rights commission. This creates an official record. Third, consult a lawyer who handles civil rights cases. Do not wait—many states have short deadlines for filing a lawsuit under federal civil rights laws.
The key law that allows you to sue for selective enforcement is Section 1983 of the U.S. Code. It says that any person acting under government authority who violates your constitutional rights can be sued for damages. If you win, you can recover money for your losses, including legal fees, and sometimes punitive damages. In some cases, you can also get an injunction ordering the government to stop the discriminatory practice.
Selective enforcement is a serious abuse of power. It undermines trust in the legal system and treats citizens as second-class. The law recognizes that when the government picks on you for the wrong reasons, you have the right to fight back. Knowing your rights and the legal standards is the first step in holding officials accountable for unfair treatment.
