The virtual Constitution got an unexpected amendment Wednesday.
Portions of Article I, Section 8 and all of Section 9 and 10 vanished from the government’s official Constitution Annotated website, a snafu the Library of Congress — which maintains the site — blamed on a “coding error.”
Those provisions of the founding document notably pertain to habeas corpus, protection against detention without due process; and the emoluments clause, which restricts government officials from receiving unsanctioned foreign gifts.
The missing sections were back online as of 2 p.m. ET, the Library of Congress confirmed.
“Upkeep of Constitution Annotated and other digital resources is a critical part of the Library’s mission, and we appreciate the feedback that alerted us to the error and allowed us to fix it,” a rep said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear what caused the “coding error,” which appeared to have happened sometime after July 17, according to screen captures on Wayback Machine.
Tech whizzes briefly tacked on a banner on the website that said, “The Constitution Annotated website is currently experiencing data issues. We are working to resolve this issue and regret the inconvenience.”
Liberal critics of President Trump have long highlighted Sections 8, 9 and 10 while attacking his policies of shipping migrants off to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison complex and benefiting from gifts such as a jumbo jet from Qatar.
The website features an annotations tool that lets users explore the historical meaning and legal implications of a given section.
Article I, Section 8 lays out Congress’ authority to collect taxes, raise an army and navy, regulate commerce and establish a national currency.
Section 9, which was wholly erased, dealt with habeas corpus and emoluments, while Section 10 imposes limits on states — such as preventing them from entering treaties with foreign nations and establishing their own currencies.
Other federal websites hosting digital copies of the founding documents, such as the one run by the National Archives and Records Administration, appear to have been untouched.
The National Archives Building in Washington, DC, houses the original copy of the Constitution as well as a copy of the Declaration of Independence and other venerated documents.
