Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

how to cite for paper

puckhead193

puckhead193

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 25, 2004
9,582
874
NY
Does anyone know how to cite a supreme court case? (MLA)
Like "163 U.S. 537" or "163 U.S. 559" or "347 US 483"
Thanks
 
eva01 said:
does citationmachine.net have it?
Click to expand...
no how weird is that, that site is my life line when it comes to papers :D
I sent them an email as a suggestion

homerjward said:
Legal Cases
To cite a law case give the names of the first plaintiff and the first defendent, the case number, the name of the court, and the date of the decision.

American Library Association vs. Jones. No.00-345. Supreme Ct. of the US. 12 May 1992.

from http://www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/mla.html
Click to expand...
Thanks a ton!
 
its a legal case, is your source of the case electronic or not? i would start there. and cite based on the source of the mateirals. there may not be a set way to cite a case, but i would assume/guess that you should cite based around the source materials. (ie, if it is off of a website, cite the site, but if its from a particular document, cite the author of said document).
 
PlaceofDis said:
its a legal case, is your source of the case electronic or not? i would start there. and cite based on the source of the mateirals. there may not be a set way to cite a case, but i would assume/guess that you should cite based around the source materials. (ie, if it is off of a website, cite the site, but if its from a particular document, cite the author of said document).
Click to expand...

there is our resident english geek
 
eva01 said:
there is our resident english geek
Click to expand...

indeedy. and as i said, i don't believe there is a set precedent for citing Legal cases in MLA as its usually not used for such, i would believe Footnotes/Chicago style is more apopros to Legal situations. but thats just my experiences. then again MLA changes every year and attemtps to change the rules all the time too... the best i could find in my handbooks that i have available would be citing a Government Document. if you want to know how that particular citing goes let me know, i'll type up an example.

edit: just looked in another handbook. and i found a bit on legal citations as well. it says:
"legislative acts and cour cases are included in the works cited list. your in-text citation should name the act or case either in a single phrase or in parentheses. in the text of a paper, names of acts are not underlined, cut names of cases are."
 
I'm thinking that if I was you that I would go with the MLA guidelines... they're usually right for pretty much anything.
Also, this was noted at the top of "Legal Sources" on the MLA page:
"The MLA Handbook, 6th ed. suggests that you use The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation (Cambridge: Harvard Law Rev. Assn.), if you are going to frequently cite legal sources in your paper."
So, if you could check that out from your library or even buy it if you feel like you will be using it very frequently.
The Legal Bluebook Website
(note: Although referred to as The Legal Bluebook in the MLA guidelines, it's real name is The Legal Bluebook.
 
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 539 (1896).

163 = volume
537 = page case starts on
539 = page you're actually citing ("pinpoint")

Supreme Court cases are easy to cite, wouldn't you say? :) Use the bluebook. State courts and appellate courts each have their own rules.
 
amateurmacfreak said:
I'm thinking that if I was you that I would go with the MLA guidelines... they're usually right for pretty much anything.
Also, this was noted at the top of "Legal Sources" on the MLA page:
"The MLA Handbook, 6th ed. suggests that you use The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation (Cambridge: Harvard Law Rev. Assn.), if you are going to frequently cite legal sources in your paper."
So, if you could check that out from your library or even buy it if you feel like you will be using it very frequently.
The Legal Bluebook Website
(note: Although referred to as The Legal Bluebook in the MLA guidelines, it's real name is The Legal Bluebook.
Click to expand...

Ugh, those MLA guidelines contradict themselves! They tell you to use Bluebook format, but then they provide an example that totally violates Bluebook form!

Anyways, I would do as Jon'sLightBulbs suggests and use the Bluebook form.

If following strict Bluebook form for footnotes in academic articles (it's a bit different for inline citations in briefs), you should cite U.S. Supreme Court cases as follows:

First cite: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 539 (1896).
Subsequent citations: Plessy, 163 U.S. at 539.

(This assumes that the pinpoint cite is 539 -- this will change depending on what particular page of the decision you're citing to.)

The short-cite version adopts the name of whichever party is likely to be the most unique. In criminal cases, this is generally the defendant. In cases against the government, it is the name of the non-governmental party. In super-famous cases like Plessy, Brown, etc. it is okay to use the most commonly used name.

EDIT: One other thing -- the date you use for the decision should be the year the opinion was issued, not the year it was heard. (This should be clear if you look at the information just below the title of the case on the first page.)
 
blackstone said:
Ugh, those MLA guidelines contradict themselves! They tell you to use Bluebook format, but then they provide an example that totally violates Bluebook form!

Anyways, I would do as Jon'sLightBulbs suggests and use the Bluebook form.

If following strict Bluebook form for footnotes in academic articles (it's a bit different for inline citations in briefs), you should cite U.S. Supreme Court cases as follows:

First cite: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 539 (1896).
Subsequent citations: Plessy, 163 U.S. at 539.

(This assumes that the pinpoint cite is 539 -- this will change depending on what particular page of the decision you're citing to.)

The short-cite version adopts the name of whichever party is likely to be the most unique. In criminal cases, this is generally the defendant. In cases against the government, it is the name of the non-governmental party. In super-famous cases like Plessy, Brown, etc. it is okay to use the most commonly used name.

EDIT: One other thing -- the date you use for the decision should be the year the opinion was issued, not the year it was heard. (This should be clear if you look at the information just below the title of the case on the first page.)
Click to expand...


use www.easybib.com! It even saves to a word doc for you ! :rolleyes:
 
Peyton said:
use www.easybib.com! It even saves to a word doc for you ! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That uses the weird form that contradicts the MLA's own instructions, though. And that particular form makes no sense because it omits the information that most lawyers would use to find the case, which defeats the purpose of having a citation.

For a contradictory example also claiming to follow MLA style, see:
http://www.library.unr.edu/depts/bgic/guides/government/cite.html#2

I would just go with Bluebook format. It's the standard in the U.S. legal community and the MLA permits you to use Bluebook form anyway.
 
eh i just did this:
BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION. 347 U.S. 483. U.S. Supreme Court. May 17, 1954.

i don't care anymore to change it. I've been working on the flacking paper for way too long...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back