ABSTRACT
The rule of law and constitutionalism will survive only if judges act as craftsmen. The craftsman understands that the legislature has determined the classifications, whose definitions the judge must respect unless they violate the Constitution. In that way the judicial craftsman insures the evenhanded and impersonal application of the law, which is the goal of the rule of law. In that way, too, the judicial craftsman insures the triumph of constitutionalism. In a society dedicated to democratic individualism, constitutionalism is the indispensable handmaiden of the rule of law. Judicial craftsmen and judicial statesmen do share a common faith. Statesmen look to moral philosophy, political theories, and notions of the public good. The Court must enforce respect for the federal principle. The oft-repeated argument that the states can protect themselves through the political process because they are represented in the national government scarcely justifies the Court's abandonment of its umpire role.
