Law enforcement and the courts mostly do make the distinction effectively—it's what they are for. That they sometimes accidentally or deliberately fail to do so is true, but it doesn't license lawbreaking. In the US, there's a small chance of an innocent being harassed for something they didn't do, but a much larger chance of a criminal being arrested, charged, and jailed for something they did do.
If you don't want to be treated like a criminal, the smart choice is not to commit crimes, even though there is small chance you'll be treated like a criminal anyway.
The question at hand is not whether to break the law, it's whether to protect yourself from intrusion by state authorities with demonstrably little public accountability.
