Bluebook Rule - Case Citation

I. Case Citation: R10

A. Single Citation
1) U.S. Supreme Court Case
    - Phelps v. United States, 421 U.S. 330, 332, (1975).

1. "Phelps" - first party
2. "v." - versus
3. "United States" - second party (Italicize or underline 1,2, and 3 but not the comma)
4. "421" - reporter volume No.
5. "U.S." - reporter abbreviation (U.S. Reports)
6. "330" - first page of case
7. "332" - pin cite/jump cite/pin point: specific page referred to
8. "(1975)" - date of decision (no court is listed here since this is a U.S. Supreme court case)

  2) Federal Court Case

      - United States v. Santana, 761 F. Supp. 2d 131, 134 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).

1. "United States" - first party
2. "v." - versus
3. "Santana" - second party (Italicize or underline 1,2, and 3 but not the comma)
4. "761" - reporter volume No.
5. "F. Supp. 2d" - Federal Supplement, second series (refer to T1 in the Bluebook)
• Note that there is a space between "F." and "Supp." and "2d."
• "F. Supp. 2d" means "Federal Supplement, second series."  Note that there is a space between "Supp." and "2d" as well.
• "F.2d" means "Federal Reporter, second series."  Note that there is no space.
6. "131" - first page of case
7. "134" - pin cite/jump cite/pin point: specific page referred to
8. "(S.D.N.Y. 2011)" - S.D. = Southern District (refer to T8 in the Bluebook); N.Y. = New York (refer to T10); Thus, S.D.N.Y. = Southern District of New York; "2011" = date of decision
• Eastern District (E.D.N.Y)
• Southern District (S.D.N.Y)
• Western District (W.D.N.Y.)
• Northern District (N.D.N.Y.)

      - Joe v. Marshall, 470 F.3d 12 (2d Cir. 2007).

      - United States v. Nance, 40 Fed. Appx. 59 (6th Cir. 2002).

  3) New York Court of Appeals Case

      People v. Pepper, 423 N.E.2d 366, 370 (N.Y. 1981).

1. "People" - Same as above
2. "Pepper" - Same as above
3. "v." - Same as above
4. "423" - Same as above
5. "N.E.2d" - North Eastern Reporter, second series (refer to T1)
• The New York Court of Appeals have one official reporter (N.Y. = New York Reports) and two unofficial regional reporters (N.E. = North Eastern Reporter, N.Y.S. = West's New York Supplement)
• Cite to N.E. or N.E.2d.
6. "366" - Same as above
7. "370" - Same as above
8. "(N.Y. 1981)" - N.Y. = The New York Court of Appeals (refer to T1); "1981" = date of decision;  In the parallel citation as written below, you don't put "N.Y." in the parentheses because readers will notice that this is a New York Court of Appeals case from "N.Y.2d."
• People v. Pepper, 53 N.Y.2d 213, 222, 423 N.E.2d 366, 370 (1981)

B. Parallel Citation

      - Hernandez v. Robles, 7 N.Y.3d 338, 363, 855 N.E.2d 1, 10 (2006).

1. "7 N.Y.3d 338, 363, 855 N.E.2d 1, 10" - N.Y.3d = New York Reports, third series (the official reporter comes first); N.E.2d = North Easter Reporter (the regional unofficial reporter comes next); N.Y.S. = West's New York Supplement (if any, the other reporter comes next)
2. "(2006)" - date of the decision; You don't put "N.Y." here because it can be identified by "7 N.T.3d 338"

C. History of Cases: R10.7

      - Black v. White, 650 F.3d 25 (7th Cir. 2010), cert granted, 312 U.S. 420 (2011).

D. Name of Case
1. Abbreviate any word listed in Table 6
    Miami Herald v. Univ. of Fla.    (correct)
    The Miami Herald v. The University of Florida    (incorrect)

2. Do not abbreviate “United States” when it appears in a case name as the named party.  Abbreviate “United States” if it is part of a name.

    Smith v. United States    (correct)

    Doe v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice    (correct)

Referred to Helene S. Shapo et al., Writing and Analysis in the Law (2013)