It is 100% untrue that "the spirit of the law" isn't factor in the US judicial system. The main way it enters explicitly is through courts taking into account the intent of the legislature. The most notable example of this was the way US courts interpreted the 14th amendment, which was far from it's literal statement.

> The spirit of the law is a lot like hate speech in that it is not recognized as a thing by the legal system of the United States

This is about the EU which uses a completely different legal system than the US so any US legal reference is basically useless.