A Smudge of Law
May. 15th, 2006 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
From last week's episode of The West Wing, "Institutional Memory":
Toby: I read the Constitution. I think I found a typo.
CJ: In the Constitution?
Toby: Yeah.
CJ: Did you call the publisher?
Toby: I think it's a typo in the original.
CJ: Constitution?
Toby: Yeah.
CJ: Seems unlikely.
Toby: I read two versions--because I have time--and there's an inconsistent comma.
CJ: No.
Toby: So I looked at every English-language publication that exists. Half of 'em have the comma, half of 'em don't.
CJ: Really?
Toby: Yeah. So I called the National Archives and had some woman look at the original. She said she wasn't sure if it was a comma or a smudge.
CJ: There's a smudge?
Toby: Yeah. A smudge. Of law.
CJ: Does it change the...?
Toby: It changes the meaning of the Takings Clause.
CJ: Seriously? I'm sure it doesn't.
Toby: I called Tom Merrill. He thinks it does.
CJ: Really? Should we--do something?
Toby: I'm gonna write it up. I have a window in the calendar.