There’s a saying we all grew up hearing:
“You can’t fight City Hall.”
Most people don’t really know what it means, until they’re forced to learn firsthand. And that’s when it really hurts. When someone finds themselves on the wrong side of a bad policy or bureaucratic mistake with no way to unring the bell. When a government agency mishandles their case. When a judge makes a decision that feels impossible to challenge. When law enforcement harms them or ignores them entirely. When a prosecutor acts recklessly without consequences. When child support or taxes or state debt crushes them with errors no one really wants to fix.
Then the truth hits:
The system isn’t built for you to fight back.
…It’s built to wear you down until you stop trying.
Why You Can’t Sue Judges, Cops, Prosecutors, or Most Government Workers
America is an incredibly litigation happy country. We built a system for others to sue people like it’s going out of style. So as a result, people who are “new” to the way things work ask all the time:
“Well, can’t I just sue them?”
First, how much money do you have? Because unless you’re independently wealthy and hold a grudge that makes it worth to you, it’s going not only be an expensive endeavor, but it’s going to be a complete pain in the ass. But second, the deck is intentionally stacked through layers and layers of immunity:
Judicial Immunity
Judges are almost entirely shielded from lawsuits, even when they make reckless or harmful decisions. Not because it’s fair, but because the system believes they need “freedom to rule” without fear of being sued every day. Because oh boy would there be a lot of people suing them simply because they didn’t like the rulings they handed down.
Prosecutorial Immunity
Prosecutors are also protected when acting in their official capacity. Even when they get it wrong, even when they behave badly. And yes, even when their choices wreck lives. You can rarely sue them, and when you can, bank on it being a multi-year nightmare.
Qualified Immunity (Law Enforcement)
Police officers are protected unless they violate “clearly established” law, an intentionally vague standard that lets most misconduct go unchallenged. Law enforcement can literally bust down the door to the wrong house and blow up your house. It’s pretty messed up stuff.
Sovereign Immunity (Government Agencies)
The government cannot be sued unless it gives you permission. Let that sink in for a minute. Can you imagine? Literally being like, “Nah, not today” when someone hands you a law suit. So for government cases, when people say “Why didn’t you sue?”, the real answer is:
Because the law won’t let you.
And even when it does? It’s designed to be a maze.
The Time Suck: Justice Takes Years, Not Months
Most lawsuits against government entities take:
- 3–7 years in federal court
- 5–10 years if they involve constitutional claims
- Even longer if appeals drag them out further
And even when you’re right, even when the harm is clear, the government has:
- unlimited attorneys
- unlimited time
- unlimited taxpayer-funded resources
- no personal risk
- no real incentive to settle
Meanwhile, you are:
- paying out of pocket
- losing work time
- reliving trauma
- hiring experts
- drowning in paperwork
- begging agencies to comply
- being ignored
- trying to survive while the system outlasts you
Most people simply don’t have the stamina or the money and the government knows it.
You Don’t “Win.” You Just Stop Losing Slowly.
Here’s the truth nobody says out loud:
Even when you win a lawsuit against the government, you don’t really win.
Here’s what “winning” looks like:
- Years of appeals
- Delays in payment
- Reduced judgments
- Slow or partial compliance
- Mountains of post-judgment bureaucracy
Child support issues?
Tax errors?
Government debts?
Overpayment mistakes?
Agency miscalculations?
You can win the case, and you still won’t see a dime for years because:
- Treasury intercepts the payment
- Courts take months to release funds
- Agencies drag their feet
- Paperwork gets “misplaced”
- Nobody is accountable
Meanwhile, they continue collecting debts and enforcing penalties while dragging their feet on fixing their own mistakes. It’s attrition warfare, more or less.
TL;DR: If It Were Easy to Sue the Government, Everyone Would Do It
People love to say:
“If it were really that bad, just sue.”
But here’s the reality:
If suing the government were simple, the courts would be flooded every day. Everyone with a gripe, real or imagined, would be ready to take down “The Man.” Instead, the system is structured to make lawsuits:
- expensive
- confusing
- exhausting
- slow
- humiliating
- inaccessible
- legally impossible
The government protects the government, not the people.
And that’s the point.
Why The System Is Built This Way
Because politicians fear being sued for bad decisions. Agencies fear accountability. Courts fear chaos. Governments fear losing money. Immunity isn’t an accident; it’s a carefully crafted shield.
It exists so that ordinary people cannot challenge:
- corrupt decisions
- discriminatory policies
- police misconduct
- prosecutorial abuse
- negligent agency actions
- administrative incompetence
Without that shield, the government would be sued into utter oblivion. So instead, we the people absorb the harm; and bad things happen to good people that are “unfair” or “should never have happened.”
Accountability Was Never Designed to Be Easy
The system was not built for working parents, caregivers, trauma survivors, everyday citizens, or people barely trying to stay afloat.
It was built for:
- institutions
- power
- protection of the state
That’s why community accountability, journalism, watchdog groups, public pressure, and grassroots organizing matter, because the legal system simply isn’t enough. It was never intended to be.
And sometimes the court of public opinion is the only court you can actually reach.
You Can’t Fight City Hall… But You Can Expose It
Fighting government systems can be incredibly painful; emotionally, financially, and psychologically.
But exposing how they work? Talking openly about how impossible the process is? Sharing the truth that the law protects institutions over people?
That’s where power comes from.
Because the more people understand the impossibility of suing the state,
the more momentum builds to change the underlying system. If it were easy to sue the government, we would live in a different country.
Until then, we tell the truth… loudly.
