Gabriel said to his son, "I can tell you are getting smarter because you can talk about things like democracy and freedom in a more philosophical way." basically, Gabriel is saying his son is capable of: abstract thinking. Abstract thinking focuses on reflecting events and ideas, and attributes and relationships separate from the objects that have those attributes or share those relationships.
Laws that a judge finds to be conflict with the conflict with the U.S. constitution are referred to as "unconstitutional laws" These can be struck down in the Supreme Court.
