Interpreting the Law Undermines the Rule of Law

 In a tyrannical or totalitarian state, the law is whatever the person or persons in charge of enforcing the law decide it is. This leaves the people at the mercy of the leader, with no clear understanding of what is legal and no recourse against despotic acts. 

The strength of our system of government is that it is based upon the of rule of law. Consistency in enforcement and interpretation, along with avenues for redress of grievances provide safeguards against the whims of the ruling class. Deviation from following the law as written erodes the security that comes from the law. If the rights as outlined in the Constitution are defined by interpretation of the law, then those rights are only as secure as the interpretation itself. In other words, no right is protected - only 'suggested'. A change in interpretation leads to changes in what is protected and what is prohibited. 

Many seek to find guarantees of specific rights in the constitution, then fear that a different interpretation will take away that right. If the right is dependent upon an interpretation, then it is no right at all - it is a whim. If you desire a right, specify and codify it by amending the Constitution. Seeking to 'interpret' rights into the Constitution weakens the rights that are specifically guaranteed therein by leaving all to the whim of those who sit on the Supreme Court. 

[Addendum September 5, 2025:  My opinions have evolved greatly since I first wrote this, largely because I have studied the original Constitutional Convention and learned that there were strong arguments against including a Bill of Rights for fear that delineating specific rights would result in some arguing precisely as I did above - that rights not specifically defined are nonexistent. It is why I have written often about the risk that seeking pro-life justices to serve on the Supreme Court puts more than the right to abortion at risk, since doing so practically requires finding justices who have a narrow, rather than a broad, view of the rights guaranteed by our Constitution. As one who believes in individual liberty, I now find that view anathema to a free society.]