Since I don't hail from Texas, I'll try to explain my thoughts without writing a major thesis. {
As the thread began, there are rules and there are rules.
I try to follow part of the Hippocratic Oath, "First, do no harm."
In my work, that means first of all, I will not rule something illegal that is, in fact, legal. (This was the thrust of many of the posts on the "other" thread)
Other than that, I will do my best to let the players, within a consistent interpretation and application of the rules, play the game.
Having been a cop, I also never ticketed for 2 miles over the speed limit. But seven? Watch out!
On the other hand, one time when I knew I was dealing with a local burglar on a carstop, I did trick him into giving me "permission" to search his trunk. The maneuver withstood a court challenge, and we removed, at least temporarily, one "bad guy" from the street.