do you think the government should be sued by the citizens of the u.s. for not enforcing their own laws?

Question

if i broke the law, they would hold me accountable, why can't we hold them accountable? why can they pick and choose what laws they are going to enforce.

Answer 1

yes indeed,maybe that will wake the politicians up

Answer 2

Unfortunately, the law doesn't work that way.

To be able to maintain a suit, you need to have constitutional standing. This means suffering an injury -- either property loss/damage or direct infringement of a personal constitutional right -- that is traceable to some defendant's action.

In the case of a suit against th government (even when not barred by Sovereign immunity or the 11th Amendment), the plaintiff would need to establish that the lack of enforcement (to use your example) or other violation is what caused the injury.

Then, depending upon the right being infringed, the government may still be able to act against that right if the government goal/interest is important or compelling enough, and if the regulation causing the injury is sufficiently narrowly tailored to achieve that goal.

It's unfortunate that the system is set up so that the government is largely on the honor system when it comes to obeying their own laws. And under the current administration, even blatant and deliberate violations of federal law and constitutional protections seem to go unchallenged.

Answer 3

They can be sued- if there is a claim that their actions or the laws they created were unconstitutional. These trials against the government are tried in the supreme court. some of the trials in the supreme court are something like "people of the US against Cheney, or so and so' there have been several of those trials against the current administration. However, usually the government gets out of them two ways 1) in this case, because of the two conservative judges recently appointed, the supreme court tends to side with the administration. and 2) when a case is brought against the administration, they have the ability to use this trick called 'rights to secrets' or something like that, I'm not sure of the name. But it basically states that the trial cannot go forward because the government would be forced to reveal information about secret procedures/top security information that would put the nation at risk. Usually, governments use this right sparingly, but this current administration has used it more times than all of the previous administrations combined.
again, a bit of this i'm uncertain about the exact facts/names, but this is just a general overview

Answer 4

By all means sue if you or enough people are mad enough to pay for the legal expense and long drawn process. In fact, there are a few such cases, especially when the government broke its own law or international law.

Answer 5

If there are laws they refuse to enforce, the other laws really don't seem to hold much creedance, do they?

An Illegal can be a felon and is let go and can get a job. An American can be a felon and is refused employment. (Go figure.)

Answer 6

The "government" owns the very courts you want to sue them in. The only viable, plausible solution is elimination of said government.

It's all just a big illusion anyway.

Answer 7

Because they are the ones with power not us. They watch each others' backs. It's pitiful I know but that's the watch it's always gonna be till it's overthrown.

Answer 8

I'm no lawyer, but I don't see why you couldn't. But I imagine you would have to prove how their lack of enforcement directly caused you damage...

Answer 9

I can't wait to see if you find an attorney to bite on this one. Please announce the name if you should. YOU CAN'T SUE THE GOVERNMENT!!!!! Where do they come from?

Anoni.

Answer 10

Ehehehe, yep.