A pocket Constitution is a

printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

copy of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

that is

pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

-sized or

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

-sized and can fit in a pocket, purse, or other small container for portability.

Publishers and use

Although the text of the Constitution is easily accessible for free online (including a printable version via the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

), the ''New York Times'' notes that "pocket-size versions come with an added feature — a physical representation of Americans' rights that can be hoisted during a

congressional hearing A United States congressional hearing is the principal formal method by which United States congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings (a procedure unique ...

, political rally or a spirited discussion with a police officer."Mike, McPhate
Pocket Constitution Sales Soar After Trump Feud With Khan Family
''New York Times'' (August 1, 2016). Although sometimes identified with the right-wing

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

, pocket Constitutions have been used by figures and

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

s on both the left and right for many years.Betsy Woodruff
The History of the Pocket Constitution: How mini-Constitutions became popular long before the Tea Party
''Slate'' (January 28, 2015). Former ACLU president

Susan Herman Susan N. Herman (born 1947) is an American constitutional law scholar and presided as president of the American Civil Liberties Union from October 2008 to January 2021. Herman has taught at Brooklyn Law School since 1980. Early life and educatio ...

says that the first instance she can recall of a prominent politician using a pocket Constitutions for effect came during the

Watergate hearings The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inve ...

, when the chair of the

Senate Watergate Committee The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...

, Senator

Sam Ervin Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician. A Southern Democrats, Democrat, he served as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A native of Morganton, North Carolina, ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, pulled out his pocket Constitution, making a "powerful visual impact." A variety of entities publish and distribute (either through sales or via free giveaways) pocket Constitutions. These include the

U.S. Government Publishing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...

(GPO), which as of 2016 sells copies for $1.50; the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(which publishes them ''en masse'' and usually sells copies for $5, but offered them for free after

Khizr Khan Khizr Khan (reigned 28 May 1414 – 20 May 1421) was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the ruling dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, in northern India soon after the invasion of Timur and the fall of the Tughlaq dynasty. Khan was Governor of Mul ...

displayed one in an emotional speech at the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

); the

American Constitution Society for Law and Policy The American Constitution Society (ACS) is a progressive legal organization. ACS was created as a counterweight to, and is modeled after, the Federalist Society, and is often described as its progressive counterpart. Founded in 2001 following t ...

; the

Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

(which currently gives them away for free to anyone who requests one), and the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indust ...

, which has given copies away for free to members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

and others.Kate Tummarello
Small Size, Enormous Importance
''Roll Call'' (July 6, 2011).The Cato Constitution
Cato Policy Report (September/October 2005), pp. 4-5. Cato began publishing its pocket Constitution in 1998, and by 2005 had distributed more than four million copies. The group also publishes a bilingual Spanish-English edition. The

National Center for Constitutional Studies The National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS), formerly known as The Freemen Institute, is a conservative, religious-themed organization, founded by Latter-day Saint political writer W. Cleon Skousen. According to the NCCS, the founding of ...

also publishes a copy, which has been criticized for its "ultraconservative annotations and commentary."

Carriers

Paul Broun Paul Collins Broun Jr. (born May 14, 1946) is an American physician and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a member of the Tea Party Caucus. Broun unsuccessf ...

, U.S. Representative from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

(

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

), carries a GPO-printed copy *

Stephen G. Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...

, justice of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Robert C. Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

, U.S. Senator from

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

( Democratic), the longest-serving U.S. Senator, who famously carried a copy at all times. *

Nancy Grace Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal commentator and television journalist. She hosted ''Nancy Grace'', a nightly celebrity news and current affairs show on HLN, from 2005 to 2016, and Court TV's ''Closing Arguments' ...

, CNN personality *

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...

, U.S. Representative from Ohio ( Democratic), began carrying a copy when elected to Congress *

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...

, anchor of

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

' '' World News Tonight'', always carried a copy, used the Cato edition *

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

, U.S. Senator from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, Lee "has been photographed gesturing with his portable Constitution" and he rotates between copies printed by the

Joint Committee on Printing The Joint Committee on Printing is a Joint committee (legislative), joint committee of the United States Congress devoted to overseeing the functions of the United States Government Publishing Office, Government Publishing Office and general printi ...

, copies printed by the Bicentennial Commission on the Constitution, and copies printed by the

William Van Alstyne William Warner Van Alstyne (February 8, 1934 – January 29, 2019) was an Law of the United States, American attorney, law professor, and United States constitutional law, constitutional law scholar. Prior to retiring in 2012, he held the Professo ...

, constitutional scholar, professor of the William & Mary

Marshall-Wythe School of Law The William & Mary Law School, known historically as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, is the professional graduate law school of the College of William & Mary. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, the school is the oldest extant law school in t ...

Ammon Bundy Ammon Edward Bundy (born September 1, 1975) is an American anti-government militant and activist. A car fleet manager by profession, Bundy gained widespread attention by leading the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He is t ...

LaVoy Finicum Robert LaVoy Finicum (January 27, 1961 – January 26, 2016) was one of the activists that staged an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016. After it began, the group organized themselves as the Citizens for ...

, and other militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 carried pocket constitutions published by the

which contain the personal opinions of

W. Cleon Skousen Willard Cleon Skousen (; January 20, 1913 – January 9, 2006) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative author with the John Birch Society and a faith-based conspiracy theorist. A notable anti-communist and suppor ...

, described by the LA Times as an "anti-communist conspiracy theorist". *U.S. Senators

Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the chair of the Senate Armed Services C ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(Democrat) and

Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

(Republican) have both used their pocket Constitutions at public appearances. * Gold Star father

displayed a pocket Constitution during a speech at the

directed at Republican presidential nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, asking "have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy." *

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em Constitution of the United States