IANAL, is there a legal distinction between unenforceable and not enforced as a matter of policy? The second could encompass a contract clause that is enforceab

IANAL, is there a legal distinction between unenforceable and not enforced as a matter of policy? The second could encompass a contract clause that is enforceable as a practical matter, but not considered desirable. The first could include things that are desirable, but impossible for a court to enforce as a practical matter. I'm inclined to think that non-competes are both undesirable and unenforceable as a practical matter, though I understand many states to enforce them. The reason I focus on the unenforceable as a practical matter is 1) that jobs so often aren't what they are advertised to be, and 2) courts, as a practical concern, don't see a realistic role for themselves as long term regulators over who is allowed to work where on a practical level. I can see this working perhaps in extremely limited conditions, but that goes into undesirable - to enforce these, you're asking the courts to rule that the employer upheld its side of the contract where it came to a job, determine specifically that the new job falls within the contract, becomes an enforcer over some worker's life determining where and how he/she is allowed to work... and all for what?