What do you think of those in charge who cherry pick which rules/laws they are going to enforce?

Question

Laws/rules are there for a reason. Can you imagine going into court and saying as a defense, "Oh, that law/rule doesn't matter." So why do some leaders (or those in charge) feel they can cherry pick which rules or laws they will enforce and which they will ignore? This goes for website moderators as well as real life management. 

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	It's wrong
	It's okay when I do it, but not someone else.
	Hypocrisy is the way of the world
	The world cannot stand up to the standards to which you hold yourself.

Answer 1

It's called prosecutorial discretion, usually exercised when the potential defendant has too much political influence, or has too much dirt on the prosecutor's boss to proceed.

Answer 2

It's a very difficult question to answer. "Rules/laws" covers a wide spectrum and it may be inappropriate to enforce all rules at all times. That decision would come down to the judgement of the arbiter and the application of "mitigating factors". 

In a criminal or civil proceeding, the judge would be that arbiter.

One of the problems is that the codes of law are so complex that it's very difficult to dot all the i's and cross all the t's, and loopholes can often be found. Those loopholes, which undermine the spirit of the law in favour of its rigidity, are no less the law and are equally deserving of being enforced.

Or course, when you find aberrations like drunk Ethan Couch, "the affluenza teen" being freed by a retiring judge after killing four people, the stench of corruption is very strong.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Couch

Answer 3

It depends on what law it is, and the situation is, really. They are some corrupt laws, in some places that need to be changed. And in some situations, the laws help save lives and help in other ways, that if someone cherry picks something else, it will cause more harm than good.