Automatic Bluebook® Citations to the
U.S. Constitution
Using Citrus to automatically generate correct Bluebook citations to the U.S. Constitution is as easy as typing your brief or legal memo and using the F2 key to mark your citations as you go. The sample legal memo text below will show you how.
Citing to the U.S. Constitution
Begin by starting Microsoft Word 2003, Word 2007, or Word 2010 on a blank document. Then type this opening sentence:
Treason is the only crime defined in the Constitution.
Now you need to cite to a legal authority. Whenever you enter a legal citation, use the F2 key to mark it. For this example, press F2, then the following citation, then F2 again.
Treason is the only crime defined in the Constitution. F2 US Const., Article 3, section 3, clause 1. F2
(Later in this example you will see ways to use abbreviations and shortcuts to enter citations much more quickly.)
When you press F2 a second time to indicate the end of your legal citation, Citrus will automatically generate a correct legal citation to the Constitutional provision that you cited:
Treason is the only crime defined in the Constitution. U.S. Const. art. III, § 3, cl. 1.
Citrus will correct mistakes that people often make when citing the Constitution. For example, a commonly-used legal database contains Constitutional citations like this:
The Fourteenth Amendment commands that persons similarly situated should be treated alike. U.S.C.A. Const.Amend. 14.
You can copy and paste the citation directly from the database. After the citation is pasted into your legal brief, highlight the citation starting at "U.S.C.A." and ending at "14", then press F2. Citrus will replace it with the correct Bluebook citation to the Constitution:
The Fourteenth Amendment commands that persons similarly situated should be treated alike. Const. amend. XIV.
Citing to the Bill of Rights and to Amendments to the Constitution
You can also cite to Constitutional amendments:
The 109th Congress could not raise its own pay.
Cite the 27th amendment by pressing F2, typing the citation below, and pressing F2 to indicate that you are done with the citation.
The 109th Congress could not raise its own pay. F2 Const amend 27. F2
When you press F2 to indicate that you are done, Citrus will generate the following citation in Bluebook format:
The 109th Congress could not raise its own pay. U.S. Const. amend. XXVII.
Note that Citrus automatically generates the roman numeral from the arabic numeral. You can enter the roman numerals directly, but using the more familiar arabic numerals helps save you from accidentally making an error in your citation.
Citing to the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution
You can also use Citrus to automatically generate correct Bluebook citations to the preamble:
The aspirations of the new nation were laid out beautifully by the Founders, const preamble, and continue to inspire us today.
If you did not press F2 before and after "const preamble" then highlight that text now and press F2. Citrus will generate the following text:
The aspirations of the new nation were laid out beautifully by the Founders, U.S. Const. pmbl., and continue to inspire us today.
Follow this link to see how to cite to amended or repealed provisions of the Constitution. You will also see how to do short constitutional citations and how to use Citrus on documents that were not created with Citrus.
