But patients have responsibilities, too: to comply with their medical regimens or openly discuss when they cannot, and in situations like John's, to follow rules designed to protect the doctor, other patients and clinic staff.
Lobbyists too must comply with reporting requirements in pursuit of their First Amendment right to petition their government, but no one has (yet) challenged their constitutional justification.
The U.S. government, too, must comply with international law by clarifying its chain of command and rules of engagement for the use of drones and ensuring proper accountability for civilian casualties.
"Even a century ago people were speaking of Siberia as the land of the future," Thubron says, "but despite its vast western oil and gas deposits, and the mineral and lumber riches of its east, Siberia has proved too harsh, too guarded, too inaccessible, to comply".
To those passive aggressive kids for whom procrastination is too subtle, complying with requests in timely, but unacceptable ways offers more satisfaction -- and greater destruction.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was all too happy to comply, given that the US had ballistic missiles in both Turkey and Italy, too close to Soviet borders for their comfort.
Similarly, utilities have argued that the power-plant rules are too costly to comply with.
"But we have to eliminate this tax, because it is too complicated to comply with the rules.
Dutch window cleaners were outraged to discover that their standard ladders were too long to comply with EU health-and-safety regulations.
But it also wins praise from independent tax experts for repairing what they call a body of law almost too complicated to comply with or to enforce.
It is the kind of thing that makes good-government types squirm: a campaign contributor wants a favor, and an elected official is only too happy to comply.
