Modern constitutional law rests on open-textured phrases, not clear constitutional text.

Evidence

Still, the Supreme Court has never been quite so powerful, quoted so often, and so much in the public eye. Almost all of its bold cases rest, however precariously, on the two great phrases of the Fourteenth Amendment: “due process” and “equal protection.” Modern constitutional law balances on these few words, like an elephant standing on a dime. The Court treats these phrases as wonderfully prismatic. It reads concepts and results into them that would stagger the men who drafted the text. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 982

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Captures the interpretive paradox of constitutional law built on almost-empty textual phrases; sits with the reader as a foundational tension rather than a flat point.
• XREF: Connects to interpreter-discretion themes in chapter 31 (ambiguous law filtered through the judge’s personal lens) and legal reasoning as interpretation. — connects to: Real disputes and social issues, not abstract text, generate constitutional law. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 923; A constitutional grammar lets nonjudicial actors reason legally about constitutional questions. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 526
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• A constitutional grammar lets nonjudicial actors reason legally about constitutional questions. #expands (0.75) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 526