Former ACLU president Susan Herman says that the first instance she can recall of a prominent politician using a pocket Constitutions for effect came during the Watergate hearings , when the chair of the Senate Watergate Committee , Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina , 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 ( GPO ) , which as of 2016 sells copies for $ 1.50 ; the American Civil Liberties Union ( which publishes them '' en masse '' and usually sells copies for $ 5 , but offered them for free after Khizr Khan displayed one in an emotional speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention ) ; the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy ; the Heritage Foundation , and the Cato Institute , which has given copies away for free to members of Congress and others . 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 also publishes a copy , which has been criticized for its " ultraconservative annotations and commentary . "
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic National Convention
Pocket Constitution