Cite Your Court Cases in Bluebook Format
When you have a case, you must cite using Bluebook format, all other types of sources will use APA.
Format: Case Name, Volume No. Source/Reporter Abbreviation 1st page number (Court Year).
*Note: In court documents and legal memos, a full case name is usually in italics or underlined, but in academic legal writing it is generally not.
*Note: A Source\Reporter is a publication that contains a specific court's decisions. There can be more than one that publishes for a court. For example, the opinions of the U.S Supreme Court are published in 3 different sources.
*Note: Names of the source and the court are always generally abbreviated.
*Note: Since there is only one U.S. Supreme Court, you do not need to include the court in the parenthesis.
US Supreme Court Example: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
Federal Courts of Appeals Example: United States v. Cutter, 313 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2002)
State Court Example: Decker v. Smith, 471 S.E.2d 462 (S.C. 1995)
Citing a Specific Page
If you use information from a specific page, you may need to include that information in your citation. It is called the pinpoint or page cited.
Format: Case Name, Volume No. Source/Report Abbreviation 1st page number, Pinpoint page (Court Year).
US Supreme Court Example: Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 355 (1967)
Federal Courts of Appeals Example: United States v. Gray, 491 F.3d 138, 140 (4th Cir. 2007)
State Court Example: State v. Gregory, 333 A.2d 257, 259 (N.J. 1975)
Short Form of Case Names
After you have listed your case in long form as described above the first time in your document, you can then shorten it when you reference it again. These are Bluebook style acceptable shorten citation examples:
For this case example reference text on page 142: United States v. Gray, 491 F.3d 138 (4th Cir. 2007)
- United States v. Gray, 491 F.3d at 142
- Gray, 491 F.3d 138 at 142
- 491 F.3d 138 at 142
Helpful Links for More Information
Penn State Law A Guide to the Bluebook PowerPoint- This PowerPoint created by Penn State Law is a wonderful, quick, and comprehensive guide for the rules of Bluebook citation.
University of Notre Dames Law School Citing Law Cases -This is a 5-page handout that covers all the basic rules to citing any type of case.
Georgetown Law Library Bluebook Guide -This has basic Bluebook citation information as well as breaks down how to cite Federal and State Courts, Unpublished Opinions, and Shorten Forms of Cases.
Purdue University Owl Bluebook Citation for Legal Materials- This Purdue University guide to citing information using Bluebook style.
