Legal Commentary

?The Census of Enumeration?

By Eugene Volokh

The Government Printing Office?s reprint of the Constitution provides, in article I, section 9, clause 4:

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census of Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

Many books say the same, as do a few law review articles.

But the National Archives transcript says ?Census or Enumeration? (emphasis added), and the photographic image of the original bears that out. So stick with ?Census or Enumeration,? and accept no substitutes. (And, no, no significant legal matters turn on this; I just wanted to point out an amusing little error.) Many thanks to Nakku Chung for pointing this out to me.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on March 28, 2010 (boomark / email).