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🦹Intro to Law and Legal Process Unit 9 Review

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9.2 Legal citation

🦹Intro to Law and Legal Process
Unit 9 Review

9.2 Legal citation

Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
🦹Intro to Law and Legal Process
Unit & Topic Study Guides
9.1 Legal research methods
9.2 Legal citation
9.3 Legal writing styles
9.4 Memoranda and briefs
9.5 Oral advocacy

Legal citation is a crucial skill for law students and professionals. It provides a standardized way to reference legal authorities, ensuring transparency and credibility in legal writing. Proper citation allows readers to locate sources, verify claims, and understand the precedential value of cited authorities.

Legal citations typically include case names, reporter information, court and year details, and pinpoint page numbers. The Bluebook and ALWD Guide are common citation systems, each with specific rules for formatting citations for various legal sources like cases, statutes, and administrative materials.

  • Legal citation is a standardized method of referencing legal authorities, such as cases, statutes, and regulations, in legal writing
  • Proper legal citation allows readers to locate and verify the sources used in a legal document, ensuring transparency and credibility
  • Legal citation helps establish the precedential value of the cited authority, indicating its relevance and persuasiveness to the argument being made
  • Case names in legal citations typically include the names of the parties involved in the case (e.g., Marbury v. Madison)
  • The case name is usually italicized or underlined to distinguish it from other elements of the citation
  • In some instances, case names may be abbreviated, especially for well-known or frequently cited cases (e.g., Roe v. Wade)
  • Reporter information identifies the specific source where the case can be found, such as the volume number, reporter abbreviation, and page number
  • Examples of commonly used reporters include the United States Reports (U.S.) for Supreme Court cases and the Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, or F.3d) for federal appellate cases
  • State cases are often cited using the official state reporter or a regional reporter, such as the North Eastern Reporter (N.E., N.E.2d) or the Pacific Reporter (P., P.2d, P.3d)
  • The court that decided the case and the year of the decision are typically included in the citation
  • The court is often indicated by an abbreviation, such as "U.S." for the United States Supreme Court or "9th Cir." for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • The year of the decision is placed in parentheses following the reporter information (e.g., 410 U.S. 113 (1973))

Pinpoint page numbers in legal citation

  • Pinpoint page numbers, also known as jump citations or pincites, direct the reader to the specific page or pages within the cited source that are relevant to the discussion
  • Pinpoint citations are placed after the page on which the case begins, separated by a comma or "at" (e.g., 410 U.S. 113, 153 or 410 U.S. 113 at 153)
  • Providing pinpoint citations enhances the precision and usefulness of the citation for the reader
  • Parallel citations refer to the practice of citing a single case using multiple reporters
  • This is often done when a case is reported in both an official reporter and a commercial reporter (e.g., 410 U.S. 113, 93 S. Ct. 705, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147)
  • Parallel citations are typically separated by commas and ordered according to the priority of the reporters

Signals in Bluebook citation

  • Signals are used to indicate the relationship between the cited authority and the proposition it supports
  • Common signals include "see" (the authority directly states the proposition), "see also" (the authority supports the proposition, but not directly), and "cf." (the authority supports the proposition by analogy)
  • Signals are placed before the citation and are typically italicized (e.g., See Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803))

Introductory phrases in Bluebook citation

  • Introductory phrases or explanatory words can be used to provide context or clarification for a citation
  • These phrases are placed in parentheses before the citation and are not italicized (e.g., (discussing the scope of judicial review) Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803))
  • Introductory phrases should be used sparingly and only when necessary for clarity

Order of authorities in Bluebook citation

  • The Bluebook provides guidelines for the order in which authorities should be cited when multiple sources are referenced
  • Generally, the order is as follows: constitutions, statutes, cases, regulations, and secondary sources
  • Within each category, authorities are typically arranged in descending order of authority (e.g., federal, then state) and reverse chronological order

Short form citations in Bluebook

  • Short form citations, also known as "id." or "supra," are used to refer to a source that has been previously cited in full
  • "Id." is used when the immediately preceding citation is the same source, while "supra" is used when the source has been cited earlier but not immediately preceding
  • Short form citations help avoid repetition and improve readability (e.g., Id. at 153)

Differences between ALWD and Bluebook

  • The ALWD Guide to Legal Citation is an alternative citation manual to the Bluebook, providing a more straightforward and user-friendly approach to legal citation
  • While the ALWD Guide and the Bluebook share many similarities, there are some differences in formatting, abbreviations, and the use of specific elements
  • For example, the ALWD Guide uses a single format for all case names (e.g., Marbury v. Madison), while the Bluebook distinguishes between case names in textual sentences and citations
  • Cases are cited using the elements discussed earlier: case name, reporter information, court, year, and pinpoint citations
  • The format for citing cases remains largely consistent across different citation manuals, with minor variations in abbreviations and punctuation
  • Examples: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803); Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
  • Statutes are cited by providing the name of the code or compilation in which the statute appears, followed by the specific section or provision
  • Federal statutes are often cited using the United States Code (U.S.C.), while state statutes are cited using the official state code
  • Examples: 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Cal. Penal Code § 187
  • Constitutions are cited by indicating the constitution being referenced (e.g., U.S. Const. or [State] Const.), followed by the article, amendment, or section
  • When citing a specific clause within a constitutional provision, the clause name is included (e.g., U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3)
  • Examples: U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1; N.Y. Const. art. I, § 6
  • Legislative materials, such as bills, resolutions, and committee reports, are cited using the name of the legislative body, the document type, and any identifying numbers
  • Examples: H.R. Rep. No. 116-252 (2019); S. Res. 123, 116th Cong. (2019)
  • Administrative materials, including regulations, agency decisions, and executive orders, are cited using the name of the agency, the document type, and any identifying numbers
  • Federal regulations are cited using the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), while agency decisions may be cited using official reporters or docket numbers
  • Examples: 45 C.F.R. § 164.502; SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194 (1947)
  • Books are cited by providing the author's name, the title of the book, the edition (if applicable), and the year of publication
  • If citing a specific portion of the book, page numbers or section numbers are included
  • Example: Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1476 (3d ed. 2002)
  • Periodicals, such as law review articles and journals, are cited by providing the author's name, the title of the article, the name of the periodical, the volume and issue numbers, the year of publication, and the page numbers
  • Examples: John O. McGinnis & Michael B. Rappaport, Originalism and the Good Constitution, 98 Geo. L.J. 1693 (2010)
  • Internet sources are cited by providing the author's name (if available), the title of the webpage or document, the name of the website, the URL, and the date of access
  • If the source is not paginated, paragraph numbers or section headings may be used for pinpoint citations
  • Example: Legal Citation, Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation (accessed Apr. 1, 2023)
  • Legal citation serves the purpose of attributing ideas, arguments, and statements to their original sources
  • By properly citing authorities, legal writers acknowledge the intellectual work of others and give credit where it is due
  • Attribution through legal citation demonstrates the writer's research and enhances the credibility of the argument
  • Legal citations are used to support arguments by referencing precedents, or previously decided cases, that are binding or persuasive
  • By citing relevant precedents, legal writers show that their arguments are grounded in established legal principles and reasoning
  • The use of precedents through legal citation helps maintain consistency and predictability in the law
  • Proper legal citation helps avoid plagiarism by clearly distinguishing between the writer's original ideas and those borrowed from other sources
  • By attributing ideas and arguments to their original authors through citation, legal writers maintain academic integrity and avoid misrepresenting others' work as their own
  • Legal citation serves as a safeguard against unintentional plagiarism and promotes ethical scholarship
  • Improper legal citation can have serious consequences for legal writers, including:
    • Weakening the persuasiveness of the argument by failing to provide adequate support
    • Undermining the writer's credibility and professionalism
    • Exposing the writer to allegations of plagiarism or academic misconduct
  • In academic settings, improper legal citation may result in lower grades, disciplinary action, or even expulsion
  • In professional settings, improper legal citation can lead to sanctions, damage to reputation, and potential legal liability