I apologise for these quotes' obtusity, which are purposed to emphasise the difficulty that hamstrings me! In the 1st example, there are 3 negatives (because [**unless** is a negative conditional](http://math.stackexchange.com/q/500937/53259)), all of which obstruct my understanding. Please show all steps and thought processes?

Source: p 109, *How the Law Works*, by Gary Slapper

>However, it is possible for Acts to create offences – ... – that do not require any mens rea, or guilty mind, in order for the defendant to be convicted. But it is right for society to be wary about the number of such offences, so the courts presume that a statute **does not** impose criminal liability **without** the need for proof of mens rea **unless** it specifies explicitly that that is what it is doing.


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/29/us/excerpts-from-the-supreme-court-s-ruling-on-gays-and-the-boy-scouts.html
>But the freedom of expressive association, like many freedoms, is not absolute. We have held that the freedom could be overridden ''by regulations adopted to serve compelling state interests, **unrelated** to the suppression of ideas, that **cannot** be achieved through means significantly **less** restrictive of associational freedoms.''