Citizens often resist laws that need changing by non-compliance. Overzealous enforcement of bad laws can be guarded against by giving citizens some wiggle room. The above-described parents cannot be forced to confess breach of the law. The state must prove its case independently, without the participation of the accused. This causes the well-known generational friction between adults and teenagers.
Adulthood means being sensitive to social context and choosing speech accordingly.
We justify our words by trying not to offend or cause unnecessary troubles. This means we often lie, and adolescents are the first to spot this. Once you make the state the truth squad, it does and will operate like teenage policemen, and the Founding Fathers knew that. Any process that seeks to make sure every office-holder is pure will merely reduce our supply of valuable public servants, a commodity already in short supply. Oliver P. Williams is a professor emeritus of political science.