New Features and Updates to the Constitution Annotated Website

This is a guest post by Meghan C. Totten, a paralegal specialist and legal editor in the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service.

Written in “plain English“, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, better known as the Constitution Annotated, has served as Congress’s Constitution of record for over one hundred years. A Senate document, the Constitution Annotated is prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and provides objective, authoritative, timely, and non-partisan explanations of every provision of the Constitution based on comprehensive analyses of Supreme Court decisions.

On Constitution Day, September 17, 2019, the Library of Congress launched the online Constitution Annotated to make the material more accessible to Members of Congress, congressional staffers, scholars, students, and people across the nation and around the world who are interested in the Constitution. The website was recently enhanced with new features to improve its usability and content.

Improved breadcrumbs point to essays on various parts of the Constitution Annotated and link to the specific section, clause, and group displayed on the Browse page. The Browse page has been updated to include descriptions for each article or amendment, section, and clause (see below).

Finally, external links now open in a new tab (see below), making it easier for users to compare Constitution Annotated essays with the cited sources or read secondary materials without leaving the site.

Valuable bonus information on the Constitution is available at the bottom of the home page. This includes discussions of emerging issues in Constitutional Law, Library of Congress resources for researching the Constitution, and special Constitution Annotated resources including the Table of Cases, Table of Supreme Court Decisions Overruled by Subsequent Decisions, and Beyond the Constitution Annotated: Table of Additional Resources.

You can find the Constitution Annotated at constitution.congress.gov or on the Congress.gov homepage. We hope you enjoy exploring the site and learn something new about the Constitution in the process. If you have any questions, please contact us through Ask A Librarian.

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