States Can't Make Moral Limits

Drawing on John Witherspoon and the Revolutionary era, the piece argues moral boundaries are formed in families, churches, and civic institutions, not by statute; attempts to legislate conscience or create virtue from above will fail or produce perverse incentives. It reframes debates over moral regulation (speech, education, public order) as failures of civic formation rather than gaps to be filled by more law. — If true, the claim pushes policymakers to focus on strengthening civil institutions and civic education instead of expanding regulatory moralism, shifting how we justify limits on state power.