1. Or Everything You Need To Know About Citation In One Easy Lesson
Anatomy of a Citation Or
Everything You Need To Know About Citation In One Easy Lesson

2. “The central function of a legal citation is to allow the reader
to efficiently locate the cited source .”
BLUEBOOK (18th ed.), p. 2

3. When to use citations
To point to authority for a legal or factual argument or proposition
To point to the source of a quotation
When restating holdings, facts, or ideas
To provide supplementary material

4. Citations to Cases – Rule 10
Name of the parties
Published source(s) in which case appears
Page on which the case begins
Pinpoint citation, if needed
Court
Date
Subsequent history, if any (Rule B5.1.5)

5. Party Names (T.6 & T.10) Roe v. Wade, Heard v. Herald Newspapers,
State v. Thompson,
Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co.,
In re Winship,
T. 6 is the table that lists words that may be abbreviated in the case names.
Omit all but the first name on either side of the “v.”
Use only the surname of individuals.
Principle: compaction

6. Volume Number & Reporter Abbreviation (T.1 & T.2)
410 U.S. (United States Reports)
132 F.2d (Federal Reporter)
45 F. Supp. (Federal Supplement)
380 S.E.2d (South Eastern Reporter)
21 U.S. (8 Wheat) (early US reporter)
T. 1 is the table of U.S. jurisdictions.
T. 2 is the table of international jurisdictions.
Cite the relevant regional reporter.
For early Supreme Court Reporter volumes, give the name of the reporter’s editor and the volume of that series.
If the pagination in the original & the reprint is the same, use the form shown. If the pagination differs, give parallel citations to the reprints and to the original reporters.

7. Pinpoint cites
369 U.S. 186, 195
784 F.2d 1209,
769 F.2d 195, 196, 199 n.4
492 F.2d 150, 150

8. Case citations in the text
In Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York, 366 N.E.2d 1271 (N.Y. 1977), the court applied a version of the diminution in value rule.

9. Parenthetical Date and Court
Date is the year of decision.
(1978).
No court designation is given if the court is clear from the name of the reporter .
410 U.S. 113 (1973).
Add court designation if not clear from name of the reporter.
132 F.2d 1059 (5th Cir. 1996).

10. Short Forms – Rule 10.9
Once a full citation is given, short forms may be used IF
it will be clear to the reader;
the full citation is in the same general discussion; and
the reader can locate the full citation quickly.

11. Examples of Short Forms
United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. 338, 343 (1974).
Calandra, 414 U.S. at 343.
414 U.S. at 343.
Id. at 343.

12. Use of Id. - Rule 4.1
Use id. when citing the immediately preceding authority.
Only use id. if there is no possibility of confusion. That is, if there are two sources in the preceding reference, don’t use id., use a short form that identifies the source.

13. Citations to Statutes – Rule 12
Volume, title or chapter number
Abbreviation of code or compilation
Section number
Publisher, editor or compiler
Date
Supplements

14. Abbreviations (T.1 & T.2) U.S.C. - United States Code
U.S.C.S. - United States Code Service
U.S.C.A. - United States Code Annotated
S.C. Code Ann. - South Carolina Code Annotated

15. Section Numbers 12 U.S.C. § 1455 Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 5.01
S.C. Code Ann. §
Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, § 37

16. Publisher, Editor or Compiler
No publisher needed for official codes published by governmental entity.
42 U.S.C.§ 300a-7 (2000).
Provide publisher for official and unofficial codes published commercially.
42 U.S.C.A. § 300a-7 (West 1998).
42 U.S.C.S. § 300a-7 (Lexis 2002).
S.C. Code Ann. § (West 2000) .

17. Date Year that appears on the spine
Year that appears on the title page
Latest copyright year
Year of replacement volume, not original
Material found in supplement
42 U.S.C.A. § 300a-7 (West Supp. 2005).
Material found in main volume & supplement
42 U.S.C.A. § 300a-7 (West 1998 & Supp. 2005).

18. Preferred sources for statutes
Current official code - 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000).
Current unofficial code - 5 U.S.C.A. § 101 (West 2004).
Official session laws - 83 Stat. 852 (1970).
Privately published session laws -
2004 Minn. Sess. Law Serv., ch. 162, art. 1 (West).
Secondary source -
Social Security Amendments of 1983, Pub. L. No , 51 U.S.L.W. 203 (1983).

19. Court and litigation documents - Rule B10 (BT.1)
Plaintiff was driving a blue, late-model sports car. (Compl. ¶ 21.)
(Trial Tr. Vol. 2, 31, June 19, 2004)

20. Books & Treatises – Rule 15
Author
Editor or translator
Title
Page, section or paragraph
Edition
Publisher
Date

21. Examples
Harold W. Fuson, Jr., TELLING IT ALL: A LEGAL GUIDE TO THE EXERCISE OF FREE SPEECH (1995).
Charles Dickens, BLEAK HOUSE 50 (Norman Page, ed., Penguin Books 1971)(1853).
4 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE §1006 (2nd ed. 1987).

22. Consecutively paginated journals - Rule 3 (T.10 & T.13)
Richard A. Epstein, The Supreme Court, 1987 Term – Foreword: Unconstitutional Conditions, State Power, and the Limits of Consent, 102 HARV. L. REV. 4 (1988).
Stephen D. Sugarman, Using Private Schools to Promote Public Values, 1991 U. CHI. LEGAL F. 171.

23. Electronic media & non-print sources – Rule 18
Cases available only online
Gibbes v. Frank, No , 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 21357, at *18 (3rd Cir. Oct 14, 2004).
Statutory material
Wis. Stat. Ann. § (West, Westlaw through 1995 Act 26).
Internet
Am. Mining Cong. v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, No. CIV.A SSH (D.D.C. Jan. 23, 1997), available at

24. “The index is your friend.” S. Etheredge
Less than half of the Bluebook is devoted to rules & examples.
Use the aids provided.
Table of contents
Index
Tables

25. Deciphering a strange citation
Bluebook tables
Beiber’s Dictionary of Legal Citations
Beiber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations
When all else fails, ask the author for a copy.

26. Finally The Bluebook doesn’t cover everything. Analogize.
Issue: You need to cite an unusual source.
Rule: There is no rule that applies exactly.
Application: Synthesize a rule by analogy.
Conclusion: Construct your own citation.
Remember the central function of citation.
Be consistent.

27. How does one cite this?
The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 has been passed twice, apparently, in two different defense appropriations bills
Pub. L , 119 Stat (Dec. 30, 2005)
Pub. L , 119 Stat (Jan. 6, 2006)
I would just cite the most recent version.