Constitutions
Articles, amendments, state constitutions: cited by their own divisions and current status.
You cite a constitution to its own divisions, not to a page in some printing, so the citation carries no volume or page, and no year while the text is in force. It is an address. The two diagrams read one federal provision of each common shape: a clause inside an article, and a section inside an amendment.
A clause inside an article
U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2.
- 1 jurisdiction: U.S. or a state’s abbreviation
- 2 Const., with no comma after it
- 3 article: art. and a Roman numeral
- 4 section sign, one space, number
- 5 clause: a paragraph, numbered by convention
A section inside an amendment
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 3.
- 6 amend. and the number given on ratification
- 7 section: only if the amendment prints sections
- 8 no year while the text is in force
12.1Reading a constitutional citation
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12.2Articles, sections, clauses and the Preamble
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12.3Amendments
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12.4Repealed, superseded and proposed text
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12.5State constitutions: use the state’s own divisions
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12.6Earlier constitutions, amended text and invalid provisions
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12.7When the receiving court sets the form
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12.8Puerto Rico, the territories and the District
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12.9Tribal constitutions
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12.10Pinpoints, references in your sentences, and typeface
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12.11Short forms
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12.12Errors to catch
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