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Intro
- Jurisdiction specific rules trump the Bluebook in it's jurisdiction
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B1 Typeface conventions
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The EXHAUSTIVE list of underlined/italicized words in citations for non-academic documents
- Case names and procedural phrases
- Titles of books
- Titles of legislative materials
- Signals
- Explanatory phrases introducing case history
- Cross references (id supra)
- Words introducing related authority (quoted in)
- Topic
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underne/italicize these throughout text, not just in citation (unerline preferred)
- Titles of publications
- Words italicizes in the original quotation
- Any word normally italicizes like foreign words.
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White v. Blue.
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Applies to both
- Intro. Signals
- Id
- Short case names
- Internal cross-reference
- Titles of articles
- Introductory phrases for related authority
- Any punctuation that falls within the italicized material
- Procedural phrases in case citation
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Only White/Academic
- Never Underscore
- Put the authors and titles of books/periodicals in large and small caps
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Only to Blue Pages
- Full case names
- Titles of books and essays
- NB: large and small caps NEVER used in Blue Book
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B2 Citation sentences and Clauses
- Citations as either whole sentence or as clauses within a sentence directly after the propositions they support
- Only use footnotes where specific jurisdiction instructs it
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Citation sentence
- Often contains a string of citations, each set off by a semicolon
- Begins with capital, ends with period
- Use this to to cite authority that relate to the ENTIRE preceding sentence
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Citation clause
- Set off from text with a comma
- Immediately after the proposition it supports
- Never start the clause with a capital unless the clause begins directly with a source that would otherwise be capitalized
- ONLY can be used if the source authoritates PART of the sentence
- Never end the Cit. Clause with a period unless it ends the sentence
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B3 Intro signals
- Signal= a shorthand message to reader about the relationship between the proposition and the authority in relation to that proposition
- Do not capitalize a signal used to begin a citation clause
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B3.1[ no signal]
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A citation can be used with NO INTRO SIGNAL if
- The Authority directly states the proposition
- the source of a quotation (I.e. If you integrate physical quotes from the authority into your intertextual presentation
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An authority referred to in the preceding text
- The court held openly in cases, like [case name], that no consideration existed. Romer v. Evans
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B3.2 [E.g]
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Use e.g. Or See, e.g., to intro an authority that is one of multiple authorities/jurisdiction that state the same proposition
- Regarding underlining "see, e.g.," go up to the period after g but not the second comma
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B3.3 [See]
- Use "See" to introduce an authority that clearly supports, but doesn't directly state the proposition
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B4 Sources and Authorities: Cases
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B4.1 Full Citation
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Has 5 components
- Case name
- Published source where the case is found
- Parenthetical indicating the court and year of decision
- Any other parenthetical info (if any)
- Subsequent history of case (if any)
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B4.1.1 case name
- case name at beginning of case is too long, so use Rule 10.2 to edit the name
- Omit all parties other than the first on either side of the v
- underline the entire case name up to but not including the comma following the citation
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For names of people
- Omit given names and initials, use only the surname (family name)
- Omit "et al" and other words indicating multiple parties
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Procedural phrases (ex rel, in re)
- Ex rel= on behalf of/ on the relation of, etc...
- In re= in the matter of/ petition of, etc...
- NB if adversary parties are named, omit all procedural phrases except ex rel
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Always abbreviate words in Table T6 unless the citation appears in a textual sentence
- Topic
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Abbreviate geography pursuant to Table T10 unless the location is a named party
- NEVER abbreviate United States even if it is a named party
- Omit "the" if the 1st word of a party's name unless it is part of the name of an object in an IN REM ACTION
- Yu MAY abbreviate words with 8 letters or more if substantial space is saved and the result is unambiguous
- Entities with widely recognize initials (NAACP) can be abbreviated without using periods
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If you refer to a full case name in a textual sentence
- ONLY abbreviate the list of 8 words listed on 10.2
- Underline the whole case name
- The first time you mention the case in the text, follow it with the remaining elements of a full citation set off by commas
- REFER TO ONLY ONE PARTY'S NAMEIn a subsequent reference to the case within the same general discussion
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B4.1.2 reporter and pinpoint citation
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Volume #, abbreviated name of reporter(tableT1), page on which the case report begins, pincite
- Pincite=the page where the case relates to the cited proposition
- Can be a page range
- 92-97
- if range is >3 digits then you drop the repetitive digits other than the final two
- 102-06; 1020-30
- Multiple nonconsecutive pages are cited with the full page number set off by a comma
- Use passim INSTEAD of a pincite if your material is on too many nonconsecutive pages than is convenient to liist
- To cite a footnote
- Cite the page it is on
- "n"
- period
- Footnote number
- 104 n.4
- NB there is no space between "n" and the footnote number
- Do NOT OMIT a pin cite if it is the me as the first page of the case report (492 F.2d 150, 150
- See Rule 3.2 for pincites
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B4.1.3 court year and decision
- Cse citations should include (1) the deciding court followed by (2) the year of decision
- For Supreme Curt or highest court of a state decision DO NOT include the deciding court in the citation
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Supreme court
- Cite to U.S (the U.S Reports if the decision is therein
- If not, cite to S. Ct ( the supreme court Reporter)
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Federal court of appeals
- Cite to F., F2d, F.3d (the Federal Reporter)
- Indicate the deciding court parenthetically
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Federal district court
- Cite to F. Supp. ( the Federal Supplement)
- Indicate the deciding court parenthetically
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State High Court
- Cite to the regional reporter in which the court sits IF. the decision lies therein OTHERWISE cite to the State's official reporter (on table T1)
- Indicate the state parenthetically unless it is clearly conveyed in the name of the reporter
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Other state courts
- Same as the State high court
- NEVER include the department or district of intermediate state courts
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Parallel citation in state court documents
- Documents submitted to state courts should be to the reporters indicated by LOCAL RULES (found on BT2)
- Local rules usually require citation to BOTH official state report and unofficial regional reporter, one following the other (this is parallel citation)
- Where a pincite is necessary, include one for BOTH reporter citations
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Pending/Unreported cases
- "slip opinions" (see Rule 10.8.1 and 18.3.1)
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Correct state abbreviations ONI Table T10
- NB the Bluebook's spacing rules (6.1(a)
- No space between adjacent capital letters
- Put a space between a single Capital Lett and a longer abbreviation (D. Conn.)
- Opinions available only online can be cited with the URL included
- Topic
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B4.1.5 Weight of Auth. And Explanatory Parentheticals
- If you want to add information indicating the weight of your cited case, then include additional parenthetical with the info right after the date parenthetical
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ALWAYS indicate "concurring" or "dissenting" via the additional parenthetical method describe about
- You can stack parentheticals thus: (date) (5-4 decision) (Powell, J., dissenting)
- Explanatory parentheticals may also be used to explain the proposition for which the case stands
- See Bluepages B11 and Rule 10.7.1.
- Topic
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B4.1.6 Prior History
- while a full citation should include the subsequent history of the case, the inclusion is subject to the exceptions discussed in rule 10.7
- You SHOULD use one of the table T8 explanatory phrases to introduce the prior history (aff'd, aff'g, cert. denied) WHENEVER POSSIBLE
- Explanatory phrase is underlined
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Explanatory parenthetical information should ALWAYS PRECEDE any subsequent history
- (9th Cir. 1991) (holding that police violated due process), rev'd en banc, (9th Cir. 1992).
- Nte that the explanatory parenthetical comes right after the INTERMEDIATE decision, then followed by the subsequent history( I.e. What the appellate court said about the intermediat court's decision.
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If the case has a separate name in the subsequent history, provide the new case name and ADD the underlined phrase "sub nom"
- N need to provide new case name if
- Parties have simply reversed names
- If the subsequent history is merely a denial of a writ of cert. Or a rehearing
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B4.2 Short Form Citation
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You can use a "short form" to cite an authority if you have already provided one full citation PROVIDED THAT
- It will be clear to the reader from the short form what is being referenced
- The earlier full citation is in the same general discussion as the subsequent short form
- The reader can easily and quickly access the full citation
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Acceptable short forms
- Palsgraf, 162 N.E. at 100.
- 162 N.E. At 100.
- Id. at 100.
- All of them have "at" followed by a pincite in common
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If you use only one party in a short form, use the first
- Unless that party is either a geographical or government unit or some "common" litigant.
- You can shorten the exceptionally long litigant name in your short form
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Id is short form for the immediately preceding authority
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Notes on id.
- The underline always runs under the period
- When used alone, id. Refers to the identical referenced in the immediately preceding citation.
- So if you make your proposition and cite to it with a citation sentence and then elaborate on the same proposition in a similar discussion in the next sentence.....you can end that second sentence thus. Id.
- Same fact pattern as above, except now you want to cite to a different pincite within same authority....for this you add "at" and the new pincite (Id. at. 8.)
- Id can only be used as short form when the previous citation cited only 1 source
- Most used (along with rule 10)
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NB: the 5 sections of the BB
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Blue Pages(3-43)
- Citation rules for memos or briefs
- Generic
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White pages(45-192)
- Citation rules for ALL forms of legal writing
- Academic writing
- Detailed
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Tables(193-379)
- Abbreviations and jurisdiction specific info needed to complete citations based on the general rules of the blue and white pages
- Index(381-415)
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Inside Front/back covers(
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Front
- Cheat sheet for citation rules applicable to law review footnotes
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Back cover
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Cheat sheet for office memoranda and briefs
- Confused about whether a formatting rule in the White pages applies to a particular citation you are drafting?