‘Coding Error’ Blamed After Sections Of The Online U.S. Constitution Go Missing

The Library of Congress has admitted that a coding error caused the removal of important portions of the U.S. Constitution on its official website, creating a flurry of concern and speculation on the Internet. The compromised location, Constitution Annotated (constitution.congress.gov), showed incomplete sections of Article 1, which is a fundamental part of the founding document.

The library has informed us that certain parts of Article 1 are not available… because of a coding error. We have been trying to rectify this, and it should be rectified soon.”

The omitted text was a portion of Section 8 and all of Sections 9 and 10, or about 650 words. Among these was the provision that empowered Congress to keep a Navy, the clause on the employment of militias, and the all-important habeas corpus protection: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

Other omitted clauses alluded to the now-repealed authorization of the slave trade until 1808, a prohibition of bills of attainder, and certain powers not granted to individual states. The mistake did not affect the Constitution itself, but only the error in the text, which led to confusion, at least temporarily, as screenshots and commentary quickly spread on Reddit and in the news.

The Internet Archive shows that the full text was present on the site as late as July 21, so the error must have been introduced after that. After the response of the people, the deleted sections were reinstated in a few hours on other sections of the site. A message on the page stated, “We are trying to fix this problem and apologize for the inconvenience.”

Although the Library of Congress refused to give specific technical explanations, it stressed that it is committed to keeping its public resources accurate: “Constitution Annotated… upkeep is an essential component of the Library mission.”

The incident was ironically a silver lining, since it led to a resurgence of interest in the Constitution, as people went online to confirm the passages that were missing with their own eyes.