enforce the law

idiom

: to make sure that people obey the law
The job of the police is to enforce the law.

Examples of enforce the law in a Sentence

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ByteDance originally faced a Jan. 19 deadline to sell TikTok, but Trump signed an executive order instructing the attorney general to not enforce the law, granting the company 75 more days to unload the U.S. portion of its business. Cj Haddad, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2025 Progressive district attorneys in major counties and one state attorney general after another — including the current Democrat who occupies the office, Rob Bonta — repeatedly made the argument that leeway and forbearance were needed in lieu of efforts to aggressively enforce the law. Lanhee J. Chen, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025 Biden ultimately opted not to enforce the law in his final days in office. Julia Shapero, The Hill, 26 Mar. 2025 Even perfectly legitimate laws can be enforced in ways that are harmful, and good governance requires the wisdom to enforce the law in ways that are consistent with other values. Kevin Sabet, Newsweek, 24 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for enforce the law

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Cite this Entry

“Enforce the law.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enforce%20the%20law. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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