Selective Police Enforcement

Selective enforcement is the name given to the actions of persons in authority in the legal system to apply enforcement of laws on a discretionary basis. That is, the legal authorities may execute law enforcement differently on different individuals, even where different individuals may be charged with or may have committed identical crimes. Controversy over selective enforcement is hardly new, and the issue fronts that the controversy poses are as trivial as traffic tickets and as profound as the U.S. Constitution.

For decades, statistics have demonstrated marked imbalance between crimes and criminals convicted for them--an estimated ratio of about nine to one (Clark, 1971). Lacking manpower, funding, or technology to prosecute all cases appropriately, legal authorities make deals and otherwise temper enforcement practices. Other factors, such as demographics of persons most likely to be accused of crime, come into play. Those with limited economic or social power--the poor, the socially disadvantaged, the politically "unsafe," the minorities--tend to be more subject to enforcement than the r

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er of high-speed Internet connections and desktop-publishing software. The relationship is both conjugal and professional, although they are not married. Furthermore, the magazine has never missed an on-sale date. But there always seem to be stories from each of them about what the other is doing wrong and why what the other is doing spells bad news for the magazine. As one might expect, Ruth as an editor is detail oriented, and John as publisher tends to see the big picture. "What I want," he has said, "is to have the magazine pop out so I can promote it and the products like gangbusters." For her part, Ruth has said that she completely agrees. "But," she adds, "if what pops out is illiterate or is in such small type that the reader can't read it, why would you think that could be promoted at all?" John is intent on making the company as a whole a success. The magazine is aimed at physical-fitness readers, and the publishing company sells vitamin supplements and exercise equipment out of its warehouse. He and Ruth both speak of the magazine as the company's "flagship," but the term has a different meaning for each of them. When John speaks of the magazine, he means the company of which the magazine is one part--an important par
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Approximate Word count = 1787
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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