Full Idea
The strongest of all the arguments against the interference of the public with purely personal conduct is that, when it does interfere, the odds are that it interferes wrongly, and in the wrong place.
Gist of Idea
The main argument for freedom is that interference with it is usually misguided
Source
John Stuart Mill (On Liberty [1857], Ch.4)
Book Reference
Mill,John Stuart: 'Utilitarianism (including On Liberty etc)', ed/tr. Warnock,Mary [Fontana 1962], p.214
A Reaction
This is also a well known objection to capital punishment. Generalised, well established, legal interferences are perhaps more likely to get it right than ad hoc decisions about individuals by individual officials.