One of the oldest documents in U.S. history is being modernized.
As the U.S. Constitution on Tuesday turned 226 years old, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office launched a new app and Web publication.
The app makes “Constitution Annotated” — an analysis and interpretation of constitutional case law by library experts — available on mobile devices and computers for free. Anyone researching the Constitution can now easily locate particular topics or court cases on federal or state laws.
The Constitution Annotated was published in 1913 and has been reissued every 10 years with an updated interpretation of judicial cases and issues. Nearly 3,000 pages of complicated analysis is now available on the app, which also provides more frequent updates to the content.
“The United States has the world’s oldest constitution, written over 225 years ago,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Senate rules and administration committee. “The Constitution Annotated app will enable people across America to gain up-to-date, state-of-the-art access to one of the world’s greatest legal documents.”
The new app allows users to browse section by section, and sift through the massive amount of analysis as well as a function allowing users to search all text.
The site can also be accessed on GPO’s Federal Digital System, FDsys, and opened as a searchable PDF.
