What is a court case citation?
Asked by: Mrs. Eulalia Sporer DVM | Last update: February 13, 2025Score: 4.6/5 (13 votes)
A legal citation is a "reference to a legal precedent or authority, such as a case, statute, or treatise, that either substantiates or contradicts a given position." Where cases are published on paper, the citation usually contains the following information: Court that issued the decision. Report title. Volume number.
What does citation of the case mean?
A case citation contains all the information needed to locate a particular case. The citation of a reported case refers to the law report series in which the judgment was published. An unreported citation identifies the case by reference to the court which decided the case.
What is a legal citation example?
Legal Citation Basics
For example: Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007) is a citation to a Supreme Court case which can be found in volume 551 of the United States Reports (U.S.) beginning on page 393.
What is citation with example?
For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list. APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).
What is a proper case citation?
Citation format
Include the case name in italics (italicize the “v.” between the parties' names), followed by the information indicating where the case can be found. For example: Smith v. Smith, [1952] 2 S.C.R. 312. The citation should identify the jurisdiction and the court that decided the case.
Introduction to Basic Legal Citations
What does a case citation tell you?
Case citations designate the volume number of the reporter in which the case appears, the name of the reporter, the page on which the case begins, and the year the decision was rendered. Thus, each citation is unique. Cases, or judicial opinions, can be published by more than one publisher.
What citation method do lawyers use?
Legal Citations. Most legal materials are cited using Bluebook style, which is the standard legal citation style used in all disciplines (see Bluebook style in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 2015). written by Peter Martin of Cornell Law School.
What is the purpose of citation?
Citing tells your reader where you found your information. Citing allows your reader to learn more, beginning with your sources. Citing gives credit to the people whose words or ideas you are using. Citing protects you from plagiarizing.
What is a citation in a case brief example?
Case citations generally includes the case name, followed by the reporter volume, the reporter abbreviation, the first page of the case, the specific page for the cited material, and the court abbreviation and date in parentheses (unless the court name is obvious from the reporter abbreviation).
What are common citations?
APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences. MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities. Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history. Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.
What is a citation in court?
A citation is a written notice to appear in court or respond by mail to answer a charge. Citations are a substitute for an arrest when the offense is minor, for example, a traffic violation.
How to read a court decision?
The bulk of the opinion of a court will consist usually of an analysis which includes the plaintiff's arguments and supporting cases, the defendant's argument and supporting cases, and the court's review of the cases, statutes, and facts applicable to the case at bar.
What is a citation in criminal law?
A criminal citation is a formal notice from law enforcement that you're accused of a minor offense—typically a misdemeanor. Unlike an arrest warrant, a citation doesn't mean jail at the time of issuance.
What does the citation of a case does not include?
The volume and page number of the applicable reporter where the opinion may be found. The citation of a case does not include: The names of the parties. The name ( s ) of the judge ( s ) who decided the case.
What is a cite in criminal justice?
Citation in Lieu of Arrest is an order issued by law enforcement that releases a person on a promise to appear in court or pay a fine. Citations provide an alternative to booking and jail, and allow people who are not public safety or flight risks to: Remain in the community. Go to work. Go to school.
How to read a court case citation?
- the names of the parties involved in the lawsuit.
- the volume number of the reporter containing the full text of the case.
- the abbreviated name of that case reporter.
- the page number on which the case begins the year the case was decided; and sometimes.
- the name of the court deciding the case.
What is the purpose of legal citations?
The task of "legal citation" in short is to provide sufficient information to the reader of a brief or memorandum to aid a decision about which authorities to check as well as in what order to consult them and to permit efficient and precise retrieval—all of that, without consuming any more space or creating any more ...
Who is a petitioner in a court case?
The person who filed the case is the Petitioner.
What is the true purpose of citation?
The purpose of citations and references is to give credit to the original authors of ideas, research, and data, provide evidence for arguments and claims made in the paper, and allow readers to track down and verify the sources used in the research.
What does a citation look like?
Typically, a citation can include the author's name, date, location of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A citation style dictates the information necessary for a citation and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and other formatting.
How is citation done?
- Author of paper.
- Year of publication (in round brackets)
- Title of paper (in single quotation marks)
- Title of conference proceedings: subtitle (in italics)
- Location and date of conference.
- Place of publication: Publisher.
- Page references for the paper.
Why do lawyers cite cases?
A string citation to a number of these cases adds credibility to your statement of the law. It matters whether one court, two courts, three courts, or more, have decided the issue in the same manner.
What is the most common legal citation?
The Bluebook is the most ubiquitous citation style manual for legal documents within the United States. The federal courts; many, if not most, state courts; and law journals require that citations be in Bluebook format.
How do you cite a law in court?
For a California statute, give the name of the code and the section number. For example, "Code of Civil Procedure, section 1011" or "Family Code, section 3461." For a federal statute, cite to the United States Code (abbreviated U.S.C.).