Anaya Nolan
The Bluebook is a style guide that provides rules and guidelines for legal citation. It is commonly used by law students, legal professionals, and scholars to ensure consistency and accuracy in their legal writing. One of the key considerations when using The Bluebook is determining the order in which sources are cited. According to Rule 1.4, the main authority or the most useful source should be cited first, with subsequent authorities separated by a semicolon. This rule applies when citing legal documents, such as cases, statutes, and constitutional provisions, as well as when referencing specific records within a brief or legal document. The Bluebook offers guidance on citing to the record, including the use of abbreviations, page numbers, and dates, with the 19th edition introducing optional changes to the format.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| When to cite the record | For every factual assertion in a brief |
| How to cite the record | Name of the document, page number, date of the document if required |
| Abbreviations used when citing the record | Listed in Bluepages Table BT1 (e.g., brief = br.) |
| Record citation format | R. at page number (e.g., R. at 5) |
| Use of parentheses in record citations | Optional in the 19th edition |
| Use of "at" in record citations | Generally used when citing documents in an appellate record, not required for other page number references in the 19th edition |
| Use of Id. in record citations | Allowed, should be underlined or italicized consistently with other cites in the brief |
| Citing U.S. Supreme Court cases | Cite to the official reporter, the United States Reports, if the case is published therein |
| Citing federal district court cases | Many are published in West's Federal Supplement, cite to it if the case is published there |
| Order of authorities | The main authority being cited, or whichever is most useful, should be cited first; order the rest in a logical manner |
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What You'll Learn
Citing US Supreme Court cases
The Bluebook contains rules that prescribe how to cite a variety of legal documents, including US Supreme Court cases.
When citing a US Supreme Court case, you must refer to the official reporter, the United States Reports, if the case is published therein. A citation to a case in the United States Reports includes the following five elements:
- Name of the case (underlined or italicized and abbreviated according to Rule 10.2)
- Pinpoint citation, which is a citation to the page(s) on which the specific material referenced appears
- Reporter abbreviation
- Court and year of decision
- Additional parenthetical information
For example:
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 164 (1973)
However, there is generally a significant lag between when the US Supreme Court decides a case and when it is published in the United States Reports. As of November 2017, for example, the most recent volume of the United States Reports contained cases decided in mid-2012. Therefore, you will often need to cite Supreme Court cases that are not yet published in the United States Reports. In these instances, you cite to the case as published in one of the unofficial Supreme Court reporters, which are published more frequently: West's Supreme Court Reporter or United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition.
The Bluebook dictates that you cite to the Supreme Court Reporter over the United States Supreme Court Reports—Lawyers' Edition. The volume and page numbers for each unofficial reporter will be different from those found in the United States Reports.
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Citing US legislative materials
The Bluebook contains rules that prescribe how to cite a variety of legal documents. The citation of US legislative materials is covered by Rule 13. According to this rule, when citing US legislative material (except debates), you should include the title (if relevant), the abbreviated name of the chamber, the number of the Congress, the number assigned to the material, and the year of publication. State materials are typically cited in the same way.
Rule 13.2 states that you should include the name of the bill (if relevant), the abbreviated name of the house, the number of the bill, the number of the Congress, the section, and the publication year. If there are multiple versions of the same bill, this can be indicated in a parenthetical. Enacted bills are considered "statutes" for Bluebook purposes and should be cited as such (except when documenting legislative history).
To cite committee hearings, include the entire title as it appears on the cover, the bill number, the subcommittee name, the committee name, the number of the Congress, the page number of the material cited, and the year of publication. Subcommittee and committee names may be abbreviated according to Tables T6, T9, and T10.
Federal reports and documents may be numbered or unnumbered. When citing a numbered federal report, include the name of the house, the number of the Congress connected by a hyphen to the number of the report, the part and/or page number of the material being cited, and the year of publication. Parenthetical information may be included to note if the report is a conference report.
Federal legislative agency reports, such as those from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) or Government Accountability Office (GAO), must be cited as works of institutional authors. The report number (as given by the agency) will be included as part of the title, with all of this information presented in large and small caps.
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Citing committee hearings
The Bluebook provides a uniform system of legal citation. It is a useful guide for academic legal writing, offering directions on how to cite legislative materials in the text or footnotes of a law review article.
To cite committee hearings, the following components should be included:
- The entire title of the hearing as it appears on the cover
- The bill number (if available)
- The subcommittee name (if applicable)
- The committee name
- The number of the Congress
- The page number of the specific material being referenced (if applicable)
- The year of publication
> Tax Credit for Cost of Providing Commuter Benefits to Employees: Hearing on H.D. 636 Before the H. Comm. on Ways & Means, 1999 Leg., 413th Sess. 5–8 (Md. 1999) (statement of Del. Paul Carlson, Member, H. Comm. on Ways & Means).
It is important to note that large and small caps should be used for the house, abbreviation of the report, and number. Additionally, parenthetical information may be included to indicate if the relevant report is a conference report.
The Bluebook also provides guidance on citing federal committee hearings, which are official records of committee hearing proceedings. These hearings are typically open to the public and help committees gather information for decision-making or oversight responsibilities. Federal committee hearing citations should include the same elements as previously mentioned, as demonstrated in the following example:
> Combating Hate Crimes: Promoting a Responsive and Responsible Role for the Federal Government: Hearing on S. 517 Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 106th Cong. 27-30 (1999) (statement of Judy Shepard).
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Citing to the record
When citing to the record, there are several key elements that need to be included in the citation. Firstly, the name of the document should be provided, abbreviated according to Bluepages Table BT1. For example, "brief" can be abbreviated as "br." Additionally, the page number where the fact can be found within the document is crucial. This follows the "R. at page number" format, such as "R. at 5" or "(R. at 5)." The use of parentheses around the record citation is now optional, but if used, it should be consistent throughout.
It is important to note that when citing to other court filings in the same case, the titles of those documents should be abbreviated, and a specific paragraph or page within the document should be referenced. For example, "Jefferson Aff. ¶ 2" or "(Jefferson Aff. ¶ 2)." If a citation refers to an entire sentence, the citation comes after the period. In the case of multiple paragraphs, use more than one paragraph symbol without a space between them, as per Bluebook Rule 3.3(c).
Dates are also an important component of citing to the record. The date should be included when it is significant to the discussion or when distinguishing between multiple documents with the same name. The full date should be provided in the citation. Additionally, when citing documents in an appellate record, it is customary to use "at" before the page number, although it is generally not required for other types of record citations.
Proper citation to the record ensures that factual assertions in legal writing are accurately supported and enables readers to easily refer to the relevant sources.
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Citing law reviews and journals
The Bluebook contains rules that prescribe how to cite a variety of legal documents. There are many rules, but here is a guide on how to cite law reviews and journals.
Rule 16 covers how to cite law reviews, journals, newspapers, and other periodic materials. A citation to a consecutively paginated journal article includes six elements:
- Author
- Title
- Volume number
- Abbreviation of the periodical name
- First page of the article
- Specific pages cited (if any)
- Year
For example, the Bluebook citation for an article by Pamela Samuelson, appearing in a consecutively paginated journal, would look like this:
> Pamela Samuelson, Functionality and Expression in Computer Programs: Refining the Tests for Software Copyright Infringement, 31 Berkeley Tech L.J. 1215, 1258–67 (2016).
Note that volume numbers should always be given as Arabic numerals, even if the original source uses Roman numerals. If a journal does not indicate the volume number but has continuous pagination across issues, use the year as the volume number.
Authors of periodical articles are cited in the same way as the Bluebook rule for authors of books and treatises. If an article has two authors, list both connected by an ampersand in the same order as the original source. For example:
> Yuval Karniel & Stephen Bates, Copyright in Second Life, 20 Alb. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 433 (2010).
If an article has three or more authors, it is permissible to either give the first author's name followed by "et al." or list all authors as they appear.
When citing law reviews and journals, follow the same rules as for books (Rule 15.1). The only difference is to use normal type (as opposed to large and small capitals). Use the author's name as it appears on the document (not in reverse). For example:
> Decimus Junius Brutus
When there are three or more authors, use the first name followed by "et al.":
> Marcus Aemilius Lepidus & Marcus Antonius Creticus.
Follow the same rules for institutional authors (all Rule 15.1). Use the article title as it appears—do not use abbreviations (like in case names). Capitalize according to Rule 8. To abbreviate English language periodical titles, use tables T13.1, T13.2, and T10. Omit the words "a," "at," "of," and "the." If the title only consists of one word after these words, do not abbreviate the remaining word (See Table 13).
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Frequently asked questions
The Bluebook is a style guide that provides rules and guidelines for legal citation. It covers a variety of legal documents, including cases, statutes, and legislative materials.
Citing to the record is important because it allows readers to verify the factual assertions made in a brief or legal document. It provides transparency and credibility to the arguments presented.
The key elements of a citation to the record typically include the name of the document (abbreviated), the page number where the relevant fact can be found, and the date of the document, if required.
According to the Bluebook, using "at" before the page number is generally required for appellate record cites. However, it is not mandatory for other types of record cites.
When citing to court filings in the same case, you should abbreviate the titles of those documents and cite a specific paragraph or page within the document. You can choose to enclose the citation in parentheses or not, depending on your preference or the style guide's recommendation.
