Return to D.S. Campbell's home page 

Recapitulation of Citation Styles
for U.S. Laws

The most respected authority for citation styles in the United States is A Uniform System of Citation (USOC), published jointly by the laws reviews at Columbia, Harvard, Penn & Yale. Although this web cite is based on the fiftheenth edtion, the sixteenth came out in 1998.

The Bluebook asserts that the styles used for citing in a law journal are differernt from those used for citing in a legal memorandum or in a document designed to be submitted to a court. The discussion below is based on submissions to a scholarly journal. At times, however, differences for citing in memoranda and court documents will be pointed out. In addition, the Bluebook states that citations to a court receiving a document are are different form citations to a court that does not receive it. The difference usually is slight. The citation to the court receiving the document, whenever possible, includes not only a regional reporter, but also the official reporter of that state. Although the Bluebook rarely gives a reason for its rules, it seems reasonable to suggest that, since courts receiving a document may not have access to the state reporter of a court that does not receive the document, citing a state reporter of a court not receiving the document be of little, if any, use to the court that does receive it. Finally, the Bluebook lists rules for citing textual sentences and phrases.

Elements of a full case citation: (1) name of case with v. [abbreviation for versus, i.e., against] between the parties; (2) volume number of reporter; (3) abbreviated name of reporter; (4) page number cited case begins on; (5) parenthetical material consists of (a) year decision issued and (b) when not apparent from name of reporter the name of court issuing decision; (6) subsequent history, if any, of the case. Give prior history only if important to the point being discussed or if not giving it fails to described the issue sufficiently. If including parallel citations, then list official reporter first. Subsequent citations use a short form described later in this document.

• Illustrative citation of an official United States Supreme Court Reporter decision with page number of a particular reference (pin point cite) and parenthetical explanation:

Ramseur v. Beyer, 983 F.2d 1215 (3d Cir. 1992).

Anthony v. Sullivan, 802 F. Supp. 1317 (W.D. Pa. 1992).

Eastern District cited similarly (E.D.Pa. 1992).

and Middle District cited (M.D.Pa. 1992).

The National Reporter System, by West, comprises seven regional reporters for state appellate courts. Atlantic Reporter (cited A. or A.2d) Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont;

Citing Case Law [Bluebook rule 10]

A full citation to a case includes the following elements:

1. The name of the case. The Bluebook lists several pages of style rules for names of cases. These rules focus on which words to include in the name, which to omit, and which to abbreviate. The following is a cursory summary. Use only last names of persons; use only the first name in a list of persons; use only one business term (e.g., Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd.); omit names of states for state courts and words "state of" for federal court decisions; spell out United States; keep words "city of" only if it appears at the beginning of a name. Although the Bluebook requires case names to be underlined, using italics instead is perfectly acceptable.
1. Its source (a reporter). Abbreviate and put the early nominatives in parentheses after name of reporters; e.g., a cite to Dallas would appear as follows:
   1 U.S. (1 Dall.) 97.
1. Parenthetical information about the court, its jurisdiction, and the year or date of the decision; at times prior history may be included. Full dates (day, month, and year) must be used if the source of the citation is a slip opinion, a newspaper, a periodical, an electronic database, or a loose-leaf service; otherwise use only the year. If the name of the court cannot be determined from the name of the reporter, then put the name of the court in parenthesis. For example, if a Virginia Court of Appeals decision is reported in the South East Reporter, then (Va. Ct. App. 1988) would be added to the name of the reporter 202 S.E.2d 535 to produce this citation: 202 S.E.2d 535 (Va. Ct. App. 1988).
   Here are the abbreviations for U.S. circuit courts of appeals: 1st Cir. 2d Cir., 3d Cir., 4th Cir., 5th Cir., 6th Cir., 7th Cir., 8th Cir., 9th Cir., 10th Cir., 11th Cir., D.C. Cir., and Fed. Cir.
   Here are the abbreviations for U.S. district courts; be sure to include an abbreviation for the name of the state after the abbreviation for the name of the district:
   N.D. Northern District S.D. Southern District
   E.D. Eastern District W.D. Western District
   C.D. Central District M.D. Middle District
   D. only one district
   Examples: case from the District of Columbia District decided in 1990, (D.D.C. 1990); case from Middle District of Pennsylvania decided in 1996, (M.D. Pa. 1996); case from Maryland District decided in 1997, (D. Md. 1997).
1. Subsequent history is placed after the parenthetical information. Do not include history on remand (a case sent back to a lower court with instructions about further proceedings) or denial of rehearing unless particularly relevant to the point for which the case is being cited. Begin with an abbreviated, underlined (or italic) phrase like aff'd, rev'd, or withdrawn surrounded by commas. The rest of the cite follows the rules for citing a case without a subsequent history.
2. Give prior history only if particularly relevant to the point for which the case is being cited. Place it before subsequent history.

Examples: A Maryland federal district court case that was upheld on appeal by the federal court of appeals in the fourth circuit.

A Maryland court of special appeals decision that was upheld on appeal first by the Maryland Supreme Court and later by the United State Supreme Court. Citation is for a document not submitted to a Maryland Court.

Same case for a document submitted to a Maryland court.

A federal district case from the District of Columbia that was upheld on appeal first by the appeals court of the District of Columbia circuit and later by the United State Supreme Court.

Short forms: A shorten citation form may be used for cases previously cited in full. The Bluebook accepts four forms. Note that, when the name of the reporter is used in a subsequent reference, it is not necessary to include both the page number of the first page of the case and the number of the page in which the words being documented are printed. The word "at" indicates a pin point cite. Although acceptable, id should be avoided because it provides a dearth of information. Indeed, use any shortened form only if it clearly identifies the case being cited. When mentioning a general reference to a case previously cited in full, it is acceptable to refer to it only by the name of one party. For example, "The issue in Calandra is settled."

United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. at 343.

Calandra, 414 U.S. at 343

414 U.S. at 343

id. at 343

Citing Statutory Codes: [Bluebook rule 12.3 ]

If Congress goes through all the statutes in a particular title and formally declares that all of them are valid and accurate, then that title has been enacted into positive law. You can rely exclusively on the language of such statutes even if the language is different from the statute as it originally appeared in Statutes at Large. Otherwise, the official Statutes at Large contains the authoritative law, not the official codes. At the beginning of the first volume of U.S.C., a note reveals which titles have been enacted into positive law. Statutes are binding and mandatory in their own jurisdictions, but not even persuasive outside.

The United States Code is republished every six years; between editions, yearly hardbound supplements are issued. Unofficial annotated codes are supplemented three times a year by cumulative pocket parts and monthly by West's United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.) and Lawyer's Cooperative's Advance Service

When citing a code, give a statute's name and original section number only if the statute is commonly cited that way or if the information would aid in identification. An official name, a popular name, or both may be used. Ordinarily cite to current official code (U.S.C.) or its supplement. (If a title has not been enacted into positive law, however, then you should also cite parallel session law. If a statute is popularly referred to by its titles in statutes at large, then you should also cite session law, not the code. For more guidance on when to cite statutes at large see the section below on citing session law.) Otherwise, cite (a) to a current unofficial code or its supplement (U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.), or (b) to official session laws. The year in a code citation is the year of the code, not the year the statute being cited was passed. Therefore, use--in order of preference--one of the following dates: date on spine of the code volume, date on title page, latest copyright year. If more than one year is given, use the entire span. If citing a supplement or pocket part, then cite the date that appears on its title page. If none, give its copyright date.

1. title number, followed by a space; (The United States Code has 50 titles. Titles are subdivided into chapters and chapters into sections, which are numbered consecutively from the beginning of each title.)
1. abbreviation of code title [U.S.C. for official code; U.S.C.A. for United States Code Annotated (West’s) and U.S.C.S. for United States Code Service (Lawyer’s Cooperative)] followed by a space;
1. section symbol followed by a space; (§)
1. year of code in parentheses.

• 18 U.S.C. § 485 (1988)
• National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 § 104, 42 U.S.C. § 4332 (1988).
• 42 U.S.C. § 3412(a) (1970).
• Narcotic Rehabilitation Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. § 3412(a) (1970).

You may cite an unofficial code when the sections you wish to cite have been revised so recently they have not yet been printed in a supplement to the official code.

• 18 U.S.C.A. § 485 (1988).
• 18 U.S.C.S. § 485 (1988).

• 18 U.S.C. § 485 (1988 & Supp. 1990)

Citing Statutory Session Law: [Bluebook rule 12.4]

You should cite session law if a statutes is broken into several parts and placed in many widely-separated locations when inserted into a code. Such a cite also should include a parenthetical reference to the general location of the codified section.

You must cite session law if the statute does not appear in a code. A statute may not appear in the code for several reasons, but two are most common. First, the law being cited is a private law. Secondly, the statute being cited has been repealed. If a statute has been repealed, then you must note that historical fact in the citation.

Another reason for citing session law, instead of a code, occurs when historical elements are important: the fact of enactment, amendments, or repeal are three example. A fourth reason can arise when the language of the code differs materially from the session law, and the code has not been enacted into positive law.

Since 1846, at least one volume of federal sessions laws has been published each year. Until 1957 federal statutes were designated by chapter numbers. Session law compilations are important research sources because they [do the following:]

1. name of the statute, if it has one--use official, popular, or both names--followed first by a comma and then a space. If the statute has no official or popular name, then begin your citation with the full date the act was passed by the legislature: use "Act of [full date statute enacted]". If an enactment date is unavailable, use "Act effective [full date of effectiveness]". A date takes the place of the name.
1. Pub. L. No. XX-YYY followed first by a comma and then a space. XX represents the last two digits of the year, e.g., 1996 would be 96, and YYY represents the number of the statute. So, for the 135th statute passed in 1996, the public law number would be 96-135.
1. volume number followed by a space.
1. abbreviated name of session laws title followed by a space. Official federal session law is entitled United States Statutes at Large and abbreviated Stat. The official name of Pennsylvania session law is Laws of Pennsylvania abbreviated Pa. Laws.
1. page number. When citing an entire statute, give the page number at which it begins. If citing only part of a statute, then give the page number at which the entire statute begins and also the page or pages at which the relevant section or sections appear.
1. If the year of the statute is not included in its name, then place it within parenthesis at the end of the citation.

• Coinage Act of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-81, 79 Stat. 254.
• National Park Foundation Act, Pub. L. No. 90-209, 81 Stat. 656 (1967).
• Act of Jul. 23, 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-81, 79 Stat. 254.
• Tax Reduction Act of 1975, Pub. L. No. 94-12, 89 Stat. 26 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 26 U.S.C.).
• Priv. L. No. 94-75, 90 Stat. 2985 (1976).
• Act of Jan. 24, 1923, ch. 4322, § 1174, 1208, repealed by Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, ch. 946, § 301(97), 62 Stat. 832, 844.
• National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Pub. L. No. 91-190, § 102, 83 Stat. 852, 853-54 (1970). [Note that the page number at which the act begins is 852, and the numbers of the pages containing the specific section cited are 853-854.]
• Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act, Pub.L.No. 80-793, § 9, 80 Stat. 1444 (1966).
• Employee Retirement Income Act, Pub.L.No. 93-406, 99 Stat. 829 (1974).

Citing Rules and Regulations [Bluebook rule 14]

1. Begin with a title, if the regulation has one, followed by a comma and then a space.
1. Title number followed by a space.
1. Abbreviation of code [e.g., C.F.R.] followed by a space.
1. Section symbol, space, section number, another space.
1. Date or year within parentheses followed by a period.

• FTC Credit Practices Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 444 (1991).
• 47 C.F.R. § 73.609 (1991).

Federal Register: Among many other things, the Federal Register publishes rules and regulations before they are codified. The number before the abbreviated title of the Register is a volume number and the one after is a page number. If the Federal Register gives the information where the cited material is to appear in the C.F.R., then add that information within parentheses to the citation.

The Federal Register citations comprise these elements: (1) annual volume number; (2) abbreviation of name; (3) page number of cited material (usually a rule); (4) year of register publication.

• Tax on Ozone Depleting Chemicals, 55 Fed. Reg. 36,612 (1990) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. § 52).
• 54 Fed. Reg. 25,857 (1989) (to be codified at 47 C.F.R. § 97.113).

Administrative Adjudications and Arbitrations: Use documentation techniques analogous to case law citations.

Arbitrations include within parentheses the name of the arbitrator if known.

Citing Rules: [Bluebook rule 12.8.3]

The rules themselves often give citation guides. The following are suggested for federal rules.

• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure [Note that P. stands for procedure, not page.]
  Fed. R. Civ. P. 12
• Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure [Note that P. stands for procedure, not page.]
  Feb. R. Crim. P. 42 (a)
• Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure [Note that P. stands for procedure, not page.]
  Fed. R. App. P. 2.
• Federal Rules of Evidence [Note that P. stands for procedure, not page.]
  Fed. R. Evid. P. 310.

Citing Constitutions [Bluebook rule 11]

1. Abbreviation of the name of the constitution followed by a space. For the federal constitution, use U.S. Const.; for state constitutions, use an abbreviated name of the state and the abbreviation Const. ( e.g., Pa. Const.)
2. Abbreviation for article or amendment followed by a space. Use art. for article and amend. for amendment.
3. Roman numeral of article or amendment being cited, followed by a comma and then a space. (If no sections or clauses are being cited, then replace the comma with a period and end the citation here.)
4. If applicable, section symbol followed by a space.
5. If applicable, cardinal Arabic numeral of the section being cited, followed by a comma and then a space. (If no clauses are being cited, then replace the comma with a period and end the citation here.)
6. If applicable, insert the abbreviation for clause (cl.) followed by a space.
7. If applicable, cardinal Arabic numeral of the clause being cited followed by a period. Here are some examples.
   U.S. Const. pmbl.
   U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 2.
   U.S. Const. art. IV, § 2, cl 3.
   U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2.
   Pa. Const. art. III.
   Pa. Const. art. IV, § 7.
8. If the constitutional provision being cited has been repealed, then add one of following two notations.
   (A) Within parenthesis give a notation of the repeal along with the date.
   U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933). or
   (B) Cite in full the repealing provision.
   U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed by U.S. Const. amend. XXI).

Citing Encyclopedias [Bluebook rule 15.7(a)]

1. volume number; 2. Space; 3. abbreviation of title of encyclopedia (not underlined); 4. Space; 5. article name underlined; 6. Space; 7. section symbol; 8. space; 9. section number; 10. Space; 11. year of publication in parentheses; 12. period.

11. within parentheses: a. main volume date; b. ampersand with no space before or after; c. abbreviation for supplement [i.e., Supp.]; d. date of supplemen.

1. volume number; 2. space; 3. abbreviation of title of encyclopedia; 4, space; 5. article name underlined; 6. space; 7. section symbol; 8. space; 9. section number; 10. space; 11. within parentheses: a. abbreviation for supplement [i.e., Supp.]; b. date of supplement

Citing A.L.R. Annotations [Bluebook rule 16.5.5]

1. Authors full name with first name first, followed by a comma and then a space;

2. word Annotations capitalized, followed by a comma and then a space;

3. full title of annotation itself, followed by a comma and then a space;

4. volume number followed by a space;

5. A.L.R. abbreviation followed by a space;

6. page number on which annotation begins followed by a space;

7. publication year in parentheses.

6. (a) page number on which annotation begins followed by a comma and then a space;

6. (b) the page or pages cited followed by a space.

Citing Legal Treatises [Bluebook rule 15]

Put volume number followed by a space at very beginning.

Citing Legal Periodicals [Bluebook rule 16]

2. Full title of article underlined (or italicized), followed by a comma and then a space.

3. Volume number followed by a space.

4. Law review name abbreviation (Table 13) followed by a space.

5. First page number of article followed by a space.

6. Year within parentheses.

Periodicals with nonconsecutively numbered pages, that is, separately paginated within each issue (Rule 16.3 & 16.4)

1. Author's full name, first name first, followed by comma and then a space.

2. Full title of article underlined, followed by a comma and then a space.

3. Name of periodical, followed by a comma and then a space.

4, Date of issue as it appears on the cover, followed by a comma and then a space.

5. Word at First page number of article.

6. First page number of article.

Signed and titled notes, comments, projects, etc., by students(Rule 16.5.1) Designation of genre (note) should appear before title of work to indicate it is student written.

Elements of book citation: (1) volume number; (2) first initial and last name of author; (3) full main title as appears on title page, but not subtitle; (4) page, section, or paragraph of referenced material; (5) edition; (6) publication date.

• 2 W. Crosskey, Politics and the Constitution 1119 (1953).
• F. Wellman, The Art of Cross-Examination (4th ed. 1936)

Elements of dictionary citation:(1) Full name of dictionary; (2) page number of term; (3) edition of dictionary; (4) year dictionary published.

• Black's Law Dictionary 411 (6th ed. 1990)
• Ballantine's Law Dictionary 1078 (3d ed. 1969)

Citation signals indicate how a writer views the relationship of an item cited to a proposal being discussed. If no signal is used, then the reader may assume that the citation supports the writer's position. The four most common signals follow. (From Wren, Christopher, G. and Jill Robinson Wren, The Legal Research Manual: A Game Plan for Legal Research and Analysis. Madison Wisconsin: A-R Editions, Inc., 1983.)

U.S. Law Week published by Bureau of National Affairs

Supreme Court Bulletin published by Commerce Clearing House (CCH)

Federal Cases (F.Cas.) 1789-1880 contains both district and circuit courts opinions.

Federal Reporter (F.) 1880 to 1924 contains both district and circuit courts opinions.

Federal Reporter, Second Series (F.2d) 1924-1993 contains circuit court opinions.

Federal Reporter, Second Series (F.2d) 1924-1932 contains district court opinions.

Federal Reporter, Third Series (F.3d) 1993-present contains circuit court opinions.

Federal Rules Decisions (F.R.D.) 1940-present contains selective lower federal court opinions, not in FR or Fsupp, which deal with procedural matters and proceedings of judicial conferences and an occasional speech or article on procedural law.

American Law Reports prior to 1969 had state and federal cases; now only 250 selected state decisions a year. ALR Federal comprises 150 federal decisions a year

Squib is one sentence summary of a principle of law

(1) Century Digest = 1658-1896

(2) Decennial digest = every 10 years or two every five; first = 1897-1906

(3) General Digest = current volumes

Federal Digest 1754-1939

Modern Federal Practice Digest 1939-1961

Federal Practice Digest 2d 1961-1975

Federal Practice Digest 3d 1975-present

Slip law = pamphlet with separate pagination or single sheet; official

Unofficial slip law is called quick text published by commercial houses

Session Laws = chronological order in separate yearly volumes

Note: U.S. Congress calls session laws Statutes at Large

Codes = arranged by subject matter

• Uniform State Laws movement by National Conference of Commissions on Uniform State Laws; most widely known is Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) published in Uniform Laws Annotated by West (Master edition 1965-1975) supplemented by annual Handbook of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
• Interstate compacts between or among states require consent of Congress before states can enter into then, so they may appear in both state and federal publications
• Court rules are promulgated by courts themselves or by conferences of judges, usually under authority granted by statute.
• U.S. Revised Statutes of 1873 reenacted as positive law 75 titles; repealed original Statutes at Large text.
• U.S. Revised Statutes , second edition of 1878, not positive law
• U.S. Code came out in 1926 with 50 titles;
• Procedural requirements are frequently statutory in form, as in civil practice acts; many appear as non-statutory rules promulgated by the judicial. In all states, procedural law is a combination of both statutes and rules.

Corabi v Curtis Publishing Co., 441 Pa. 432, 273 A.2d 899 (1971).

Karpathios v. Deardoff, 12 D.&.C.4th 22 (1991).

The third [federal] circuit [court of appeals purview] consists of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the American Virgin Islands.

The federal district courts in Pennsylvania are located in three areas:

Eastern District of Pennsylvania(E.D.Pa.) meets at

Philadelphia, Allentown, Easton

Middle District of Pennsylvania (M.D.Pa.) meets at

Harrisburg, Scranton, Williamsport

Western District of Pennsylvania (W.D.Pa.) meets at

Pittsburgh, Erie, Johnston

• Purdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated (by title)

• Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated (unofficial pre-consolidation code)

• Session Laws: Laws of Pennsylvania

• Purdon's Pennsylvania Legislative Service

• Pennsylvania [administrative, not statutory] Code (by title)

• Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 4 states that the following abbreviation shall be used; note that No. is not part of the citation and that P. is an abbreviation for Procedure, not for page:

• Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure for District Justices. Rule 201 states that the following abbreviation shall be used:

• Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 51 states that the following abbreviation shall be used:

• Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure. Rule 101 states that the following abbreviation shall be used; note that No. is not part of the citation.

It is not necessary, of course, to use the full name of the volumes containing Pennsylvania session laws: Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1986 in the Two Hundred and Tenth Year of Independence together with Other Documents Relating to Actions by the General Assembly or Required by Law to be Published in the Laws of Pennsylvania more commonly know as the Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or as the Laws of Pennsylvania or even Pamphlet Laws.

Pennsylvania Session Law Citations: The somewhat abbreviated session style used by Purdon's does not use the "Act of" phrase, although the word "Act" clearly is appropriate when referring to the popular name of a statute. It is important to remember that the section number in a session citation is not the same as the section number in the code. When statutes at large are codified, new section numbers are assigned to the statutes.

In the style used by Purdon's, 1939 is the year the law was passed, 872 is the page number, 375 is the act number, and 806.6 is the section number of the session law, not of the section in the code. [You may have to supply the act number since some identifying sources leave it out in favor of the page number.]

You often hear persons refer only to an act number, such as Act 195. Well, the phrase Act 195 is of little value unless one knows the year Act 195 was passed. If the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed 200 acts for 150 years, then there would be 150 Act 195s. Therefore, even the briefest citation must include a year to be helpful.

• In general, use only official citations without unofficial parallels. Obvious exceptions include the Federal Reporter (F.), Federal Reporter, Second Series (F.2d), and the Federal Supplement (F.Supp) since no official reporters exist for these courts.

 Return to D.S. Campbell's home page