APA and Chicago (Author-Date) follow The Bluebook system for legal citations.

Learn more:

• Purdue OWL Legal References
• OWL Bluebook Citation for Legal Materials
• The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (at the reference desk)

A case or court reference list citation includes:

• Title or name of the case.
  • Usually listed as one party versus another, omit the first names and use only the first party/name (e.g. Plessy v. Ferguson). 
  • Use "v." between parties' names, for example, Brown v. Board of Education
  • use italics for the title only for the in-text citation (e.g. Brown v. Board of Education, 1954).
• Source of the case or "citation" of the case (cases are printed in volumes called a "Reporter" or "Case Reporter").
  • The volume of the reporter 
  • Reporter name (abbreviated; see examples below and the Case Reporters abbreviations list).
  • Page (first page of the opinion)
• Jurisdiction of the court (Court and Date); in parentheses.
  • Court level and location (District Court, Circuit Court, or State Court; abbreviated; see the examples below and the U.S. Court abbreviations list). 
  • The year of the decision
  • omit the name of the Supreme Court
• URL
  • Where you found the case online.
  • This is optional but helps your reader retrieve the information. 

A case or court in-text citation includes:

• In-text paraphrase: (Name v. Name, Year).
• In-text quote: (Name v. Name, Year, para. 3). OR (Name v. Name, Year, p. 3). OR (Name v. Name, Year, section name).

Example:

• Reference list citation: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
• In-text citation: (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954).

The decision for Brown v. Board of Education appears in Volume 347 of the United States Reports (abbreviated U.S.) on page 483, and it was decided in 1954. Note. The name is in italics in the "short form" of the citation, the in-text citation.

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The U.S. Supreme Court decisions are published in the United States Reports (abbreviated U.S.) but as it only contains Supreme Court decisions, the name can be inferred so omit the name of the reporter. Cite the Supreme Court Reporter for cases not yet published in the United States Reports.

• Include both the volume number of the United States Reports and the page number if available (at the time of this writing, page numbers are only available for decisions published before 2015). Use three underscores instead of a page number in the reference entry. 
• To find case citations for U.S. Supreme Court decisions go to Oyez.org. 

Example with page numbers:

Burnwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 573 U.S. 682 (2014). https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/13-354

• In-text citation: (Burnell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 2014).

Example no page numbers:

Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. ___ (2018). https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-111

• In-text paraphrase: (Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 2018). 

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Decisions from the U.S. District Court are published in the Federal Supplements (abbreviated as F. Supp.).

Example:

Panetti v. Drake, 401 F. Supp. 2d 702 (W.D. Tex. 2004). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/401/702/2500384/

• In-text citation: (Panetti v. Drake, 2004)

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Decisions from the U.S. Circuit Court are published in the Federal Reporter (abbreviated F. or F.2d or F.ed).

Example:

McBride v. Maass, 28 F.3d 107 (9th Cir. 1994). https://openjurist.org/28/f3d/107/mcbride-v-maass

• In-text citation: (McBride v. Maass, 1994).

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State court decisions are published in State Legal Case Reporters.

Example:

Bridges v. State, 863 So. 2d 366 (Fla. Dist Ct. App. 2003). https://casetext.com/case/bridges-v-state-37

• In-text citation: (Bridges v. State, 2003).

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Example of Federal Statute

Congressional Declaration of Purpose, 42 U.S.C. § 4321 (Current through Public Law 118-21, approved November 13, 2023.). https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=statutes-legislation&id=urn:contentItem:8SHT-0722-D6RV-H24F-00000-00&context=1516831

• In-text paraphrase: (Congressional Declaration of Purpose, 2023).
• In-text quote: (Congressional Declaration of Purpose, 2023, para. 1).

Example of State Statute

Florida Mental Health Act, Fla. Stat. § 394 (1971 & rev. 2009). http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0394/0394PARTIContentsIndex.html

• In-text paraphrase: (Florida Mental Health Act, 1971/2009).
• In-text quote: (Florida Mental Health Act, 1971/2009, Guardian Advocate section, para. 2d).

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Reference list format:

The Declaration of Independence (U.S. 1776). https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

• In-text paraphrase: (The Declaration of Independence, 1776).
• In-text quote: (The Declaration of Independence, 1776, para, 2).

Citing the full Constitution.

Example sentences:

• The U.S. Constitution has 26 amendments. 
• The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in 1780.

Citing amendments and articles of the Constitution.

Specific amendments and articles of a Constitution require BOTH reference list and in-text citations. The reference list and in-text citaitons are formatted the same way. The U.S. Constitution is always abbreviated as U.S. Const.

Amendments:

Example:

U.S. Const. amend. IV. 

• In-text citation: (U.S. Const. amend. IV). OR Amendment IV of the U.S. Constitution ...
• In-text example:
  • The U.S. Constitution protects people from unreasonable searches by the government (U.S. Const. amend. IV).
  • Amendment IV of the U.S. Constitution protects people from unreasonable searches by the government.

Articles:

Example:

U.S. Cont. art. IV, § 3.

• In-text citation: (U.S. Cont. art. IV, § 3). OR Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution ...
• In-text examples:
  • The U.S. Constitution allows Congress to admit new states into the union (U.S. Cont. art. IV, § 3).
  • According to Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress is allowed to admit new states into the union.

Charter of the United Nations

Example:

U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3.

• In-text citation: (U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3). OR Article 1, paragraph 3, of the United Nations Charter ...
• In-text examples:
  • One central purpose of the United Nations is to "achieve international co-operation in solving international problems" (U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3).
  • According to Article 1, paragraph 3, a central purpose of the United Nations is to "achieve international co-operation in solving international problems."