Bluebook - Citation Examples

1. United States v. City of Jackson, 544 U.S. 288, 230 (2005)

2. Marsh v. Metro. Hous. Inst., 6 F.3d 9 (2d Cir. 1992)

3. See In re Angelia D.B., 564 N.W.2d 682 (Wis. 1997); In re Josue T., 989 P.2d 431 (Alaska 1997); State v. Tywayne, 993 So.2d 251 (Fla. 1997).[WYL1] 

4. Abel v. Grant, 470 F. Supp. 2d 133, 134 (E.P.Pa. 2007)

    Id., at 135.

5. Ryan v. Quinn Bros., 318 N.E.2d 6 (N.Y. 1964).[WYL2] 

   See N.Y. Gen. Obligations Law, chapter 12, §4 (Mckinney, 2009[WYL3] ).

        Ryan, 318 N.E.2d 6 at 10.

6. 15 U.S.C. §552 (2006)

Black v. Jones, 300 F.3d 402, 404 (4th Cir. 2003).

7. Spring v. Mason, No. 874-14, 2006 WL 238755[WYL4] , at *18 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 10, 2003)

8. Joshua Dressler, Understanding Criminal Law 223 (the ed. 2006)

9. Claire R. Kelly, Does the Commerce Clause Eclipse the Export Clause?, 84 Minn. L. Rev. 129 (1999)

 [WYL1] Alphabetical order

 [WYL2] Cor. is omitted since Bros. shows it is a company.
 [WYL3] "Mckinney" is a publisher. This is needed since the source is unofficial.
 [WYL4] Docket number; This citation indicates that it referred WestLawNext.

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

Bluebook - String Citation and Order of Authorities: R1.4

String Citation

• Case law: (1) federal cases (2) state cases (3) listed alphabetically by state (4) foreign cases
• Within each jurisdiction: highest court to lowest court
• Within each court level: most recent to least recent (if the dates are identical, alphabetical order)
• Authorities are separated by semicolons.
• If citing a federal case and a state case, cite the federal case first.
• State court cases from different jurisdictions are cited alphabetically by state and then by rank within each state.

 ex) Lee v. Zambrano, 400 F. Supp. 2d 80 (ND.Ill.2006); Smoltz v. Jones, 400 S.E.2d 10 (Ga.1996); Jeter v. Rodrigues, 500 N.E.2d 3 (N.Y.2005); Bagwell v. Biggio, 150 S.W.2d (Tex. 1979)

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

Bluebook - Short Citation

IV. Short Citation

Omit parentheticals

Omit first page of case

Omit subsequent history

You may shorten or omit the case name

1. Id.: R4.1
  - Citation one: Blue v. Gold, 233 A.2d 562, 564 (Pa. 1997)
    Citation two: Id.
    This shows that the second citation is to material on the same page as the preceding cite.
    Citation three: Id. at 566
    This shows that the second citation is to material on page 566.
  - Citation one: Blue v. Gold, 426 Pa. 464, 233 A.2d 562 (1967).
    Citation two: Id. at 473, 233 A.2d at 581.
    When parallel citation is required.
2. Supra: R4.2
  - Cardozo, supra, at 10.
    This refers to material on page 10 of Cardozo's previously cited book.
3. Short Form for Cases Where Id. is not Appropriate: B4.2
    The following forms are acceptable.
  - Green v. Gold, 270 N.W.2d at 390.
  - Green, 270 N.W.2d at 390.
  - 270 N.W.2d at 390.

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

Bluebook - Books and Periodicals: R15-16

III. Books and Periodicals: R15-16

1. Books
1. Benjamin N. Cardozo, The Growth of the Law 16 (1924).
• author, the title of the book the page, section or paragraph (the year of publication)
2. Muriel Harris, Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers (Ben Rafoth ed. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000).
• "Ben Rafoth ed." = Ben Rafoth edited
3. W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 10 (5th ed. 1984).
2. Peirodicals: R16
1. Phil J. Friday, Jr., Just the Facts, 50 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 78 (1999).
2. Moira Standish, Comment, Will Thanksgiving Never Come?, 50 Nw. U. L. Rev. 5 (2006).
• "Comment" or "Note" indicates a student wrote the material.
• "Nw. U. L. Rev." = Northwestern University Law Review (refer to T13 in Bluebook)

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

Bluebook - Constitutional and Statutory Citations

II. Constitutional and Statutory Citations

A. Constitutions: R11

ex) U.S. Const. art. III, § 1, cl. 2.U.S. Const. amend. IV.N.M. Const. art. IV, § 7.

B. Statutes: R12

• When possible, cite to the official code
• Cite the official name of the act; the published source; the date of code edition cited
• Citation to the unofficial code must include the publisher.
• Do not underline citations to statutes.
• citing to an amended statute where the original version appears in the code and the amendment is in the supplement.

ex)
28 U.S.C. § 1331 (2006).
42 U.S.C. § 2000f(a)(b) (Supp. 2007).
42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k)(m) (2006 & Supp. 2007).
12 U.S.C.A. § 1429 (West.  2011)

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

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)