Originalism & the Incentives of the Legislator

We usually assume that legislators write laws to be understood. But cases exist in which legislators write less clearly rather than more clearly. Well known and often discussed are the whys and wherefores of legislative delegation to executive agencies. Without intending a comprehensive list, here are a couple of other reasons why legislators write more ambiguously rather than less.

First, there is simply the opportunity cost of writing more specifically rather than less. Tiptoeing around the use of legislative staff and interest groups to draft legislation (that's for another discussion), let's first consider the classic picture of a legislator drafting legislation.