The reporter selection and citationThe court and year parenthetical

Part 3a of the Legal Methods Lecture SeriesBy Terry Seligmann

Full case citationsUse the full case citation the first time that you refer to

the authority

Components of a Full Case CitationBluepages Rule 5.1:

Name of the casePublished source in which it may be foundParenthetical indicating the court and year of decisionOther parenthetical information, if any (the “explanatory

parenthetical”)Subsequent history of the case, if any

Which Reporter?Depending upon the court, a case may be published in

more than one source.Table 1 of the Bluebook provides the “Cite to” source for

published federal and state court decisions at each level of court.

Federal CasesFor Supreme Court cases, Table 1 (p.193) reads:

“Supreme Court (U.S.): Cite to U.S. if therein, otherwise, cite to S. Ct., L. Ed. or U.S.L.W., in that order of preference”

The translation– if it is in U.S. reports, that is the source to use: Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 195

If it is a new case (within the past two years or so), the U.S. reporter may not yet be issued that contains the decision, so there is an order of preference given.

Federal Cases & Table 1, cont’d.Courts of Appeals: Cite to F., F.2d or F.3d, if therein (the

Federal Reporter)District Courts: Cite to F. Supp. or F. Supp. 2d (the

Federal Supplement)

State CasesA decision of a state’s highest court will be published in

one of the regional reporters. Cite to the regional reporter. (B5.1.3(iv)).

For other state court decisions cite to the regional reporter if the decision appears there. (B5.1.3.(v)).

Example: Chalfin v. Specter, 233 A.2d 562, 563 (Pa. 1967).

Vol. Rptr. Pg., Pinpoint Pg.The full case citation must include the Volume, Reporter

abbreviation, Starting page, and the Page on which the material appears– the pinpoint page.

Example: United States v. Jardine, 364 F.3d 1200, 1203

The Court/Date ParentheticalEvery full citation needs to tell the legal reader the court

and date of decision.If the reporter abbreviation conveys the court of

decision, that is enough.Example: Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 60

(1986).

But if the reporter contains decisions from more than one court, you will need to designate the court in the parenthetical.Example: United States v. Jardine, 364 F.2d 1200, 1203

What level of court?Which court?

United States v. Jardine, 364 F.2d 1200, 1203 (10th Cir. 2004).Aha – Mandatory authority for the federal court in

Oklahoma! Stengel v. Callahan, 983 F. Supp. 1154, 1160 (N.D. Ill.

1997).Kaplan v. Ziff, 530 N.W.2d 807, 809 (Minn. Ct. App.

1995).

Where do I find the abbreviations I need for the court of decision parenthetical?For state courts, Table 1 lists (in parentheses) the

abbreviation for the court of decision to use in this parenthetical.

Example: Bluebook page 215, Table 1 -- Minnesota—Court of Appeals (Minn. Ct. App.)

Example: Bluebook page 229, Table 1— Pennsylvania—Superior Court (Pa. Super. Ct.)

Court abbreviations for federal courtsThere’s no list in the Bluebook of the abbreviations for the

U.S. Courts of Appeal, but they are: 1st Cir., 2d Cir., 3d Cir., 4th Cir., 5th Cir., 6th Cir., 7th Cir., 8th Cir., 9th Cir., 10th Cir., 11th Cir., and D.C. Cir.

For the United States District Courts, use D. for District, N., S., E. or W., plus the Table 1 abbreviation for the state. For the state abbreviation, use the abbreviation in parentheses for decisions by the highest court of that state (not the postal code abbreviation).D. Mass. not D. MAS.D.N.Y.E.D. Pa. not E.D. PA

The Spacing Rule for Abbreviations

The same spacing rule applies for reporter abbreviations and for the court designation in the court and year parenthetical

Bluebook Rule 6.1(a)Close up adjacent single capitals

N.W.S.D.N.Y.

Treat ordinals as a single capitalF.2dS.E.2d

Insert a space before and after any abbreviation of two letters or moreF.∧Supp.∧2dSo.∧2dD.∧Mass.N.D.∧Ill.

Whew– are we done yet?The credible citation– no eyebrows raisedThe important partsBuilding your reputation – neatness counts