Automatic Bluebook® Citations to the
U.S. Constitution
This page continues with instructions on how to use Citrus automatic Bluebook software to cite the U.S. Constitution. This continues some of the sample legal memorandum text from the examples on the previous page. Follow this link to review the foundational information about citing the Constitution from the preceding page or continue to the material below.
Short Citations to the U.S. Constitution
The only acceptable short citation form for constitutions is Id. The Bluebook format for an Id. citation to a constitution is "Id. {unit}" where {unit} is the article, section, clause, or other unit of text. Consider the text below.
The Constitution provides for the election of a President. U.S. Const. art. II, § 1.
In the example below, the unit of text being cited is a clause in art. II, § 1. As with other cite forms, just press F2 around the citation and Citrus will take care of the rest.
It defines the term of office to be four years. F2 Id. at clause 1.F2
Citrus will automatically generate the following citation into your legal brief or legal memorandum:
The Constitution provides for the election of a President. U.S. Const. art. II, § 1. It defines the term of office to be four years. Id. cl. 1.
If you are not sure of the Id. form to use, just enter a full cite and Citrus will convert it to the correct form. You can also enter the second citation in the example above as follows:
It defines the term of office to be four years. F2 US const art 2 section 1 clause 1.F2
Citrus will still generate the constitutional citation into your sample legal memo in the correct Id. form:
The Constitution provides for the election of a President. U.S. Const. art. II, § 1. It defines the term of office to be four years. Id. cl. 1.
Citing to Amended or Repealed Provisions of the Constitution
Where the portion of the Constitution to which you are citing has been amended or repealed, your citation must include that fact. There are two formats in which you can enter the amend/repeal information. If the fact of amendment or repeal is not central to the argument for which the source is cited, you may simply note the year. Citrus will automatically insert the appropriate data for you. Try entering the cite below:
Although sale of liquor was banned, purchase was not. F2 U.S. Const. amend. 18.F2
Citrus will add information about the year of in which the amendment was repealed and then generate this citation into your sample legal brief:
Although sale of liquor was banned, purchase was not. U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933).
If the fact or circumstances of the amendment or repeal are important to your argument, cite the amending or repealing provision:
Although sale of liquor was banned, purchase was not. F2 18th amendment to the US const (repealed by const amend 21).F2
Citrus will generate a correct citation to the Constitution, including information about the repealing amendment, into your sample legal brief:
Although sale of liquor was banned, purchase was not. U.S. Const. amend. XVIII, repealed by U.S. Const. amend. XXI.
Using Citrus on Existing Constitutional Citations
If you enter a citation but forget to press F2, you can still have Citrus manage the citation. Simply use your mouse or keyboard to highlight the citation, then press F2. Try entering the following sentence into your sample legal memorandum now:
The most widely ignored text in the Constitution may be the qualifying statement "[a] well-regulated militia" with which the second amendment begins. const amend 2.
Highlight "const amend 2" and press F2. Citrus will recognize the citation and generate the following:
The most widely ignored text in the Constitution may be the qualifying statement "[a] well-regulated militia" with which the second amendment begins. Const. amend. II.
Follow this link to review the foundational information about citing the Constitution.
