How do I cite/reference the U.S. Constitution or, more specifically, the 4th Amendment to the Constitution?
Answer
When citing legal resources, APA defers to the popular legal citation style outlined in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed., 2020).
The United States Constitution, the foundational document of our democracy, does not need to be cited in the text of a paper if mentioned generally. For example:
The U. S. Constitution describes the responsibilities of the three branches of government.
If you are citing a specific part or article of the U.S. Constitution, you must cite it in the text of the paper using an in-text parenthetical reference using the abbreviations used in "Bluebook Style." For example:
In 1920, Suffragettes succeeding in winning the right for women to vote (U. S. Const. amend. XIX).
The companion References list citation would be:
U. S. Const. amend. XIX.
If citing an article, use the following example as a pattern:
In-text citation:
(U. S. Const. art. IV, § 3).
References list citation:
U. S. Const. art. IV, § 3.
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