Taking a break from Friday Night Lights (btw, Slate had a weekly discussion about it for the last two seasons), I borrowed a copy of the first season of Drop Dead Diva for a re-watch and special features.
The show concerning a model who came back to life as a frumpy lawyer. The character stuff tends to be better than the legal, but overall, especially with the benefit of ff, a good watch. And, the source of a few choice quotes, not only some amusing comments by Stacy! Grayson tells Deb how the "law never stands still ... it's a reflection of society." Ah, like a mirror! A "smart mirror." Also, "law is the wisdom of the ages wrapped in the opinion of the moment." Clearly, a living constitutionalist!
I note in my profile that I'm not an expert in the subjects for which I write, just an educated civilian. Still, there is some truth to this:
A “layman” who reads the text of the Constitution, and studies the law, and understands the interplay of precedent with the text, and learns how the different parts of the text fit together, and works to challenge their pre-conceptions as opposed to just finding the parts of the Constitution that agree with their a priori beliefs... well, they’re the equal of any constitutional scholar. Of course, at that point, they’re no longer a layman. They are a constitutional scholar.
Well, use a different word, to keep the humility in there, but a good point is made there. The average person often does not look at law (or various other subjects) in a nuanced fashion. Some retain their average bona fides, but have done enough reading and analysis on their own -- it need not be professional or anything -- to take themselves to another level. Again, this can be true in other areas, like let's say car repair or so forth. At some point, a person has a certain skill-set, one they should be modest about given they still are not a true expert, but aware enough that they know more all the same.
Meanwhile, a few interesting lower court rulings concerning Second Amendment rights while being found to illegally possess marijuana (though not quite addressing the medicinal possession issue) and First Amendment protections for tattoo parlors.