Description of Bluebooking Rules

Citation Order in Footnotes (Rule 1.4)

• Constitutions first, then Statutes, as follows
  • Federal
  • State (alphabetically by state)
  • Foreign (alphabetically by country)
• Treaties (most recent first)
• Cases
  • Federal
    • Supreme Court; courts of appeals; district courts; district bankruptcy courts; special courts and administrative courts
  • State (alphabetically, and within a state, highest to lowest court)
  • Foreign (alphabetically by country)
  • International
    • International Court of Justice; Permanent Court of International Justice; then others alphabetically by name
• Legislative History
  • Bills and resolutions
  • Committee Hearings
  • Reports, documents and committee prints
  • Debates
• Administrative and Executive Materials
  • Executive Orders
  • Federal regulations
  • State (alphabetically by state)
  • Foreign (alphabetically by country)
• Resolutions and Decisions of the United Nations and other International Bodies
• Records, Briefs and Petitions
• Secondary Sources (in the order outlined in the Bluebook p. 27)

Signals (Rules 1.2 & 1.3)

Do not use signals:

• If providing a cite for a quote.
• If paraphrasing a point made by the cited authority.
• If the footnote is simply a citation to an authority already named in the text.

Signals are appropriate where the cited authority bears an indirect relation to the text (e.g. lends support but does not actually state the proposition).

Note: Signals are italicized unless they are part of a sentence in text or footnotes (Rule 2.1(d)).

• Independent signal:

  See Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503 (1986).

• Signal as part of sentence:

  For an analysis of military regulations prohibiting certain religious practices, see Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503 (1986).

The following are some commonly used signals and their type (supportive, contradictory, etc.) Signals of the same type are grouped together in footnotes. Only capitalize signals of a particular type in a footnote the first time you use this type; subsequently, use lower case.

Parentheticals (Rule 1.5 & 10.6)

Parentheticals after a citation may be explanatory, descriptive or quotations. Parentheticals always come before later case history. The 18th Edition Rules 10.6.2 and 10.6.3 expands on the use and ordering of parentheticals when citing cases. Special additional rules apply to parenthetical information regarding cases.

Explanatory parentheticals

An explanatory parenthetical starts with an -ing verb that is not capitalized.

• See Groh v. Ramirez, 124 S. Ct. 1284 (2004) (holding that a search warrant that does not adequately describe the things or persons to be seized is invalid).

Descriptive parentheticals

• Sometimes only a short description of the material cited is necessary. This is particularly the case where multiple citations follow an e.g.

  Many administrative matters have been found to be merely internal and therefore not a basis for application of the public policy exception to employment-at-will.²⁴

  ²⁴ See e.g. King v. Driscoll, 638 N.E.2d 488 (Mass. 1994) (participation in shareholder derivative action); Wright v. Shriners Hosp. for Crippled Children, 589 N.E.2d 1241 (Mass. 1992) (critical responses to internal survey); Agati v. Burlington Ob-Gyn Assocs, 779 N.E.2d 1004 (Mass. App. 2002) (wage and hour irregularities); Perkins v. Commonwealth, 752 N.E.2d 761 (Mass. App. 2001) (police training requirements).

Parenthetical quotations

• Quotations of a full sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation.

  James L. Wright & M. Matthew Williams, Remember the Alamo: The Seventh Amendment of the United States Constitution, the Doctrine of Incorporation, and State Caps on Jury Awards, 45 S. TEX. L. REV. 449, 462 ("Studies in jurisdictions across the nation, however, indicate that rates do not decline with the passage of damage caps, and insurers reap a windfall.").

Typeface convention for cases cited in parentheticals (18th ed):

• Rule 2.2(b)(iii) now dictates that, in parenthetical phrases, case names should not be italicized when they are accompanied by full citation clauses.

  Nat'l R.R. Corp. v. Johnson,536 U.S.100, 101 (citing Adams v. Jones, 467 U.S. 290 (1999)).

Cases (Rule 10)

Case Names (Rule 10.2)

• Use the case name as it appears in the reporter you are using. Case names in footnotes are in regular font.
• Use only last names, not first names and middle initials, unless a business entity has taken on the name of a person e.g. Margaret C. Candall & Co.
• Only include the first party name for the plaintiff and defendant (exceptions for partnership names and first-listed relators). Don't use et al. to indicate additional parties to the suit.
• Italicize: "In re." or "ex rel."
  • Change "on behalf of," "for the use of," etc. to ex rel.
  • Change "In the matter of," "Petition of," etc. to In re.
• Abbreviations:
  • Abbreviate all words found in table 6, T.6 (blue pages at the back).
  • Don't use two abbreviations for business organizations, e.g. omit "Inc." if using "Co." or "Corp."
  • Abbreviate extremely common acronyms, e.g. NBC, FDA, (Rule 6.1(b)).
  • Abbreviate states and other geographical entities unless they are named as parties.
  • Do not abbreviate United States.
  • The only abbreviations to be used with case names in text are the six listed in Rule 10.2.1(c).
• Generally, don't start case names with "The."
• Don't use "State of..." or "Commonwealth of..." or "People of..." unless it is the state where the decision was rendered; then just use "State," "Commonwealth" or "People."

Case Citations (Rule 10.3)

The following are the preferred reporters to cite. If the case is not reported in these, check the list of alternate sources you should use in Rule 10.3.1 (p.86) and table T.1 at the back of the Bluebook.

• U.S. Supreme Court:
  • For United States Supreme Court cases, you must use the United States Reports citation if it is available, even if the author you are cite checking for cited to another reporter, e.g. S. Ct.
  • If the Supreme Court case has not yet been reported in U.S. Reports (as was the situation in the second example, i.e. the Lamie cite), then in the order suggested in table T.1 at the back of the Bluebook (S. Ct. is listed as the first alternative).
• Federal Courts of Appeals:
  • Generally, cite to F., F.2d or F.3d; otherwise, see table T.1 at the back of the Bluebook.
• Federal District Courts:
  • Generally, cite to F. Supp. or F. Supp. 2d; otherwise, see table T.1 at the back of the Bluebook.
• State Courts:
  • State court decisions must be cited to the Regional Reporter unless the case is not yet reported in a regional reporter.
  • If there is a public domain citation available, use that as well following Rule 10.3.3 (p.64).

Note 1: If citing to a slip opinion (not a preferred cite) use the full docket number (Rule 10.8.1). When citing to a looseleaf service, use Rule 19; a periodical, use Rule 16; or to an electronic source, use Rule 18.
Note 2: For a good discussion of spacing in case citations (Rule 6.1), see Georgetown University's "Introduction to Bluebooking" webpage.

Pagination (including pinpoint cites) (Rule 3.3)

• Beginning page: If citing material that is part of a serial publication (e.g. a case in a reporter, an article in a law review, a chapter in a book that is a collection of articles), cite the page on which the article or case begins.
  
  • It is not necessary to do this for a treatise, for example, because a treatise does not start on a specific page in a compilation.
• Pinpoint cites: After a starting page, insert a comma, then give the specific page(s) on which the cited material appears. If a starting page is unnecessary because you are citing a complete work, simply include the page number. If it may be unclear that the pages are not part of the citation (e.g. when citing a slip opinion that has numbers), use "at" to clarify.
  • If the page on which material begins and the page where the specific cited material is located are the same, repeat the page number (e.g. 534, 534).
• Electronic cites: Where cases have a Westlaw or Lexis citation, pinpoint cite to the Westlaw or Lexis pagination using a comma followed by "at" and the vendor's star pagination (e.g. at *6).

Identification of Court (Rule 10.4)

In the parenthesis following the case citation, there must be some indication of the court unless it is clearly identified by the citation itself e.g. U.S. Use table T.1 in the blue pages at the back of the Bluebook for abbreviations (table T.2 if a foreign jurisdiction).

• For federal Court of Appeals cases, give the circuit.
• For federal District Court cases, give the district only (not any division thereof).
• For the highest court of the state, include only the state abbreviation e.g. Mass.
• For lower state courts, indicate the court that decided the case.

Date (Rule 10.5)

• Use the year the case was decided as presented in the reporter.
• If using a case not cited in a reporter, include the full date.

Procedural history (Rule 10.7)

• Generally, give subsequent history, but not prior history unless particularly relevant. However, omit cert. denied unless relevant or within the last two years and omit history on remand unless relevant. Rule 10.7.1(c) includes directions for citing cases that have been abrogated or superseded by statute.
• Some explanatory phrases are listed in a table at the back of the Bluebook T.8 (p. 340).
• A name change upon appeal is indicated by the italicized words, sub. nom. For a name change in prior history, see Rule 10.7.2 (p.94).

Parenthetical information (Rule 10.6.1)

• Parethetical information may be added to cases to indicate the type of opinion. Do not add parethetical information for procedural histories that are abbreviated in table T.9 at the back of the Bluebook. Examples of information that may be in paretheticals are that the material cited is part of a dissenting opinion, an unpublished table opinion, a memorandum decision (mem.), a per curian decision (per curiam), or a decision en banc (en banc).
• Parethetical information about the type of opinion always precedes general parenthetical information(see Rule 10.6.3).

Constitutions (Rule 11)

Generally, there are only four elements to citing a constitution:

• U.S. or an abbreviation for the state (in small and large caps);
• The word CONST.;
• The parts, articles, sections or clauses being cited (abbreviate according to table T.17 in the back of the Bluebook); and
• The date (special rules for superseded constitutions or amended sections in Rule 11, p.75).

Statutes (Rule 12)

Codes (Rule 12.3):

• A citation to a code should contain:
  • the name of act (if not simply citing an individual section)(omit "The" as the first word);
  • the title of the code;
  • the code abbreviation;
  • section(s) referenced; and
  • the date of code (including any relevant supplements).
• Generally, cite to the current official version of the United States Code (or its supplements).
• For state statutes, use table T.1 at the back of the Bluebook to find the appropriate official code and abbreviation.
• However, cite to the session law (1) if the law is too spread out among different code sections OR (2) you are noting that the act itself was passed, amended or repealed (Rule 12.2.2).
• The Internal Revenue Code can be cited I.R.C. instead of 26 U.S.C., but you need to use the date of the United States Code.

Session Laws (Rule 12.4):

• Generally, citation should be to a code (see above). However, in some instances it is necessary to cite to the session laws. When citing to federal or state session laws, include:
  • the name of act;

    If there is no associated name, include the full date of the act.

  • the chapter or public law number;
  • the volume and page number of the session laws; and
  • the year of enactment unless it is obvious from the session law.

  If you know where the session law is codified (or will be), include that information in parentheses following the citation.

Legislative materials (Rule 13)

Bills (Rule 13.2)

• Federal bills:
  • If there is a name associated with a federal bill, include the name prior to the citation.
  • Include:
    1. the abbreviation for House (H.R.) or Senate (S.);
    2. the number of the bill;
    3. the number of the Congress; and
    4. the date the bill was published. If unenacted, include the stage and date of the bill in parentheses.
  • A bill that has become law is usually cited as a statute unless it is being cited for legislative history. If so, cite as an unenacted bill (in the example given, the Can-Spam Act became a public law in December 2003).
• State bills:

  According to Rule 13.2(c)(p.93), include:

  1. The legislative body (e.g. state senate or house);
  2. The bill number;
  3. The legislative session (if applicable); and
  4. An abbreviation for the state and the date of the bill in parentheses following the citation.

Resolutions (Rule 13.2)

• Resolutions are cited in the same manner as bills. Abbreviations for resolutions (including concurrent and joint resolutions) can be found on p.115 of the Bluebook.
• For enacted resolutions, you need to include the parenthetical (enacted) after the citation unless it is evident from the text that the resolution has been enacted. However, if a parallel citation is included to the statute (in Statutes at Large), there is no need to indicate enactment.

Hearings (Rule 13.3)

Generally, in citing a hearing include:

1. the name of the hearing;
2. the bill number;
3. the committee before which the hearing was held (and the subcommittee if applicable);
4. the congress;
5. specific page numbers identifying source of cited material;
6. year of hearing; and
7. parenthetical information about person testifying. Titles of witnesses may be abbreviated per Table T.11.

Congressional Reports (Rule 13.4)

Citations for congressional reports should be in SMALL AND LARGE CAPS.
Include the following:

1. If there is a title and author of the report, they should be included in the citation as shown in Rule 13.4(b) (p.94);
2. H.R. or S. to indicate House or Senate;
3. REP. NO.;
4. The number of the Congress and the number of the report separated by a hyphen, e.g. 99-456;
5. The page number on which cited material appears using at (use a comma to separate the report number from the page number);

   For further information on pagination, see discussion above.

6. If the report is reprinted in United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.), this should be noted as in the example.

Congressional Debates (Rule 13.5)

Generally, cite to the Congressional Record, permanent edition. Include volume and page number (page numbers are often preceded by an S or H indicating House or Senate). Pinpoint citations to pages should be used where applicable. Parenthetical information can be given about the speaker as indicated in the example.

Administrative and executive materials (Rule 14)

• Executive orders: Give the number of the executive order, a citation to Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations if therein, and the date. If in the United States Code, a parallel citation should be given (see Rule 14.7 (p.103)).
• Administrative regulations: Generally, cite administrative regulations to the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). Include:
  • Name of regulation if available;
  • Title number of the C.F.R.;
  • Part, section and subsection referenced (following section symbol); and
  • Date of most recent C.F.R. available for this title.

  If the regulation is not yet in the Code of Federal Regulations or if citing a proposed rule, cite to the Federal Register as indicated nn Rule 14.2.

• Administrative Decisions: With some exceptions, see Rule 14.3 (p.98), administrative decisions are generally cited as cases. As a name for the decision, use only the first private party or use an official subject matter description. Cite the official reporter if possible. A list of official administrative reporters is in a table T.1 at the back of the Bluebook (p.187).

Tax Materials (Rule 14.5)

Tax materials are cited slightly differently than other administrative materials.

• Regulations: Instead of citing treasury reglations to the C.F.R., they are cited using the form Treas. Reg., section symbol, regulation number, and date (see Rule 14.5.1 (p.100)).
• Revenue rulings:Revenue rulings are cited by number and to the Cumulative Bulletin, or to the Internal Revenue Bulletin if not yet published in the Cumulative Bulletin (see Rule 14.5.2 (p.101)).
• Tax Court Cases: Decisions of the tax court are generally cited as cases (see Rule 14.5.3 (p.102)).

Treatises (Rule 15)

Generally, the elements of a treatise citation are:

1. The name of the author (first name, middle initial, last name) in SMALL AND LARGE CAPS;

   If two authors list both (connected with an &) in SMALL AND LARGE CAPS in the order in which they appear.

2. The title of the treatise in SMALL AND LARGE CAPS;
3. Pinpoint page cites; and
4. The copyright date of treatise.

Where the treatise is a collection of separately authored articles or chapters, cite the name of the author of the chapter in plain text, the title of the chapter or article in italics, a comma, the word in (italicized), the title of the book in SMALL AND LARGE CAPS, the page number where the chapter begins, a comma, and a pinpoint page cite. In parentheses following the citation, include the editors names and copyright date).

Periodicals (including Law Reviews) (Rule 16)

Author (Rule 16.1)

• Signed non-student articles: If an article is signed, include the first and last name of the author. If there are two authors, include both names joined by an ampersand (&). Rule 15.1 has been expanded to provide alternative citations for works by multiple authors and to make the use of "et al." discretionary.
• Signed student articles: If citing a student law journal, follow the same rules of citation as for non-student articles, except add a comma, followed by the type of article (e.g. Note, Comment, etc.)
• Unsigned articles: If student-authored, begin with type of article (e.g. Note, Comment, etc.). If non-student article, begin with the title of the article.

Title (Rule 16.2)

• The title of an article should be italicized; however any words which would be in italics in the text (e.g. case names) should be in regular type.

Citation (Rule 16.2 - 16.5)

• Consecutively paginated articles: Cite the volume number, an abbreviation for the periodical in SMALL AND LARGE CAPS, and the beginning page. For a discussion of pinpoint cites, see above.
• Articles where each issue has own pagination: If citing a student law journal, follow the same rules of citation as for non-student articles, except add a comma, followed by the type of article (e.g. Note, Comment, etc.) in regular type.

  For non-consecutively paged magazines and newspapers, use "at" before the first page number. For magazines a pinpoint cite can also be included following a comma and the first page. For newspaper articles only include the first page (but indicate the subdivision of the newspaper if necessary). See Rule 16.5 (p. 141). A newspaper piece published as a "Letter to the Editor," or similar title, is now to be designated as such in its citation.

To abbreviate periodical names, use the list in the blue pages at the back of the Bluebook T.14 (p.317). The University of Washington also has a website listing Bluebook Abbreviations of Law Review Titles. If not T.14, you should check the reverse dictionary in Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, part II (beginning on page 633). Bieber's is at the reference desk and on reserve (KF246 .B46 2001).

Date (Rule 16.3 & 16.4)

• For consecutively paginated articles, include the year in parentheses after the citation.
• For articles where each issue has its own pagination (including newspaper articles), include the full date as listed on the front cover. Rule 16.3 now includes explanations and examples for citations to journals that employ separate pagination systems within their regular volumes or produce regular, separately paginated "special issues."