In the age of the mobile phone it’s now even easier to have anytime access to the preeminent legal document in the United States. The United States Constitution is the focus of the latest iPhone/iPod touch application created by West.
West’s development of the U.S. Constitution as an app is an extension of the company’s commitment to providing the text to the public. As this article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press explains, West has been printing a pocket Constitution since the 1980s, when Chief Justice Warren Burger asked West to make it.
Wednesday was the anniversary of the 1787 signing of the Constitution.
West’s app features the complete text of the U.S. Constitution, including a table of contents. Audio of the spoken text also is available.
Justin Hummel, a director in New Product Development for West, talks about the Constitution app in this video interview recorded at the American Association of law Libraries (AALL) Annual meeting:
We think Justin really would rather listen to the Constitution than Beyonce, by the way. You’ll have to watch the clip to catch his joke.
The U.S. Constitution app from West is available for $.99 on Apple’s App Store. And, as Justin mentioned in the video, the Black’s Law Dictionary app also is available in the 8th edition.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
In Practice | Rule of law |
If this app is part of West’s service to the public, why charge for it? Why not make it free?
Thanks for the comment and question about the cost. The nominal price of this app from West is comparable to other U.S. Constitution apps on iTunes and reflects the features and organization West put into it. On the Web, we do offer the U.S. Constitution text for free, via FindLaw, at this link: http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/constitution. That’s in addition to the free printed pocket Constitution that West makes available. Again, thanks for writing and reading Legal Current-Kevin Hunt
[...] list of mobile electronic legal resources, you can now add the United States Constitution. West Publishing has released the digital version of a Pocket Constition for iPhone / iPod Touch. The application, [...]