THE BLUEBOOK BLUES
This adapted exercise is based on “Hollywood
Cites” provided to us by Grace D’Alo
versus
• In case citations, the correct way to say
Smith versus Jones would be:
• Smith vs. Jones
Bluebook Answer
• Incorrect.
• Correct way is: Smith v. Jones
• Not v or vs.
Party Names
• When giving case citations, the entire
names of the parties should be listed:
• Example: William C. Donovan v. James
L. Lewis
Bluebook Answer
• Incorrect
• Omit first names and middle initials of
persons (10.2.1) g
• Answer: Donovan v. Lewis
– exception: if the first name/middle initial is
part of a corporate entity: John J. Smith
Corp. v. Jones
Capitalization
Is the capitalization in the following
sentence correct?
The Defendants in Jones sought
reversal of the appellate court’s decision
based on Fourteenth Amendment
arguments.
Bluebook Answer
• The capitalization is incorrect.
• The defendants in Jones sought
reversal of the appellate court’s decision
based on Fourteenth Amendment
arguments.
• Rule 8; P. 6(b) capitalize party
designations when referring to parties in
the matter before the court.
Parenthetical Information
• True or false?
• The appropriate way to indicate that you
are citing to a dissenting or concurring
opinion is to indicate it in parentheses
after the cite by referring to the author of
the decision and whether the author
was concurring or dissenting.
Bluebook Answer
• True.
State v. Jackson, 420 P.2d 119 (Cal.
2003) (Taylor, J., concurring).
• Bluebook Rule 10.6.1(a).
Short Citation of Statutes
The following example illustrates the use
of “id.” to refer to statutes. Is it properly
used?
First cite is: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1994).
The next cite is: See id. at § 1981.
Short Citation of Statutes
It is incorrectly used. Do not use “at”
before a section or paragraph symbol.
The correct short cite is:
See id. § 1981.
Rule B6.2. See rule 4.1 for examples.
Short Forms for cases
• Hanjaras v. City of Atlanta, 65 S.E. 356
(Ga. Ct. App. 1909).
• If you want to cite to page 357 of the
decision with no intervening cite, would
the following short form be correct?
• Hanjaras at 357.
Bluebook Answer
• No, Hanjaras at 357 is incorrect.
• Id. at 357.
• Hanjaras, 65 S.E. at 357.
• 65 S.E. at 357.
• Rule B5.2; Rule 10.9
Quotes
• Assuming that the quotation is accurate, is
the quotation in proper Bluebook form?
• In Moore v. Crumpton, the court found that
the state’s inability to control a child’s
behavior indicated that “ . . . [d]efendants’
ability to control their child was, in fact,
limited.”
Bluebook Answer
No, it is incorrect.
Under Rule 5.3, an ellipsis should not
be used at the beginning of a quotation
regardless of whether words have been
omitted from the original text.
Quotes
• True or false?
• You should use an ellipsis when
language is omitted from the middle of a
quoted sentence and add brackets
around the first letter of the first word
after the ellipsis.
Bluebook Answer
• False.
• Under Rule 5.2 (b)(ii), use an ellipsis
when language is omitted from the
middle of a quoted sentence. Brackets
are only used to indicate an alteration of
the original material.
Quotes
• In the following quote, material is omitted
from the end of the quoted sentence. Your
textual sentence also ends. Is the following
correctly punctuated?
• To the extent that our past decisions have
“[l]imited the parents’ liability for the acts of
the parents’ unemancipated minor child, they
are overturned. . . .”
Bluebook Answer
•
•
•
•
It is incorrect.
overturned. . . .” (incorrect)
overturned . . . .” (correct)
The sentence should end with an ellipsis to
indicate that material has been omitted from
the quote. The ellipsis begins and ends with a
space. A period is then needed to the
sentence.
• Rule 5.3; see rule 5.3(b)(iii) for examples.
Case Names
• The following is the second party name
in a citation sentence. Is it in correct
Bluebook form?
• v. Katherine Harris, Secretary of State
of Florida, et al., Respondents.
Bluebook Answer
No. The correct form is: v. Harris.
Rules 10.2.1(a); 10.2.1(e); 10.2.1(g)
The correct complete case name is:
Palm Beach County Canvassing Bd. v.
Harris
Often Quoted Sources
• True or false?
• The two most often quoted books in the
English language are the works of
William Shakespeare and the Bible.
These works are so popular that they
need no Bluebook citation.
Bluebook Answer
• False.
• Even though these works are popular,
they must be cited according to the
Bluebook.
• Rule 15.8(c)
Symbols
• True or false?
• If a work is organized by using § and ¶
symbols, then these symbols should be
used when citing to the work.
Bluebook Answer
• True.
• Rule 3.4.
Prior and Subsequent History
In general, give the entire subsequent
history of a case except for:
a. Denials of certiorari
b. Denials of discretionary appeals more
than two years old
c. Irrelevant history on remand
d. All of the above
Bluebook Answer
Answer d is correct.
Denials of certiorari, denials of
discretionary appeals more than two
years old, and irrelevant history on
remand should all be omitted.
Rule 10.7.
Statutes
Is the following citation correct or
incorrect?
15 U.S.C. §18 (1982).
Bluebook Answer
• Incorrect: 15 U.S.C. §18 (1982).
• Rule 6.2(c). There should be a space
between the section symbol and the
numeral.
• 15 U.S.C. § 18 (1982).
Case Names
• Is the following case name correctly
used in a textual sentence?
• The court in Downey v. Motor Vehicle
Accident Insurance Company held
that . . . .
Bluebook Answer
• The answer is incorrect. The correct
answer is:
• Downey v. Motor Vehicle Accident
Insurance Co.
• Rule 10.2.1(c)
Block Quotations
• True or false?
• Quotations of fifty or more words should
be indented left and right, without
quotation marks. For court documents,
the citation should not be indented and
should begin on the immediate next line
after the end of the quote (single
spaced).
Bluebook Answer
• True.
• The citation should not be indented and
should begin on the immediate next line
after the end of the quote (single
spaced).
• Rule 5.1(a).
Citation Sentences
• Which of the following citations is in the
correct form for a citation sentence?
1.
Nat’l Equip. Rental, Ltd. v.
Szukhent, 375 U.S. 311 (1964).
2.
National Equipment Rental, Ltd. v.
Szukhent, 375 U.S. 311 (1964).
Bluebook Answer
Citation 1 is correct.
Nat’l Equip. Rental, Ltd. v.
Szukhent, 375 U.S. 311 (1964).
All words listed in T. 6 should be
abbreviated (Rule 10.2.2) in
citation sentences.
THE BLUEBOOK BLUES