Bluebook: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
Pgadfor (talk | contribs)
 
(443 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1:
:''This{{short pagedescription|Style isguide about theon legal citation style. See also [[Blue book]].''}}
{{About|the legal citation style guide|other uses|Blue book (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Bluebook
| image = The Bluebook 18th ed Cover.gif
| image_size = 180px
| border =
| alt =
| caption = Cover of the 18th edition
| author =
| audio_read_by =
| title_orig =
| orig_lang_code =
| title_working =
| translator =
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language =
| series =
| release_number =
| subject = [[Legal citation]]s
| genre =
| set_in =
| publisher = ''[[Harvard Law Review]]''<br />''[[Columbia Law Review]]''<br />''[[University of Pennsylvania Law Review]]''<br />''[[Yale Law Journal]]''
| publisher2 =
| pub_date =
| english_pub_date =
| published = 1926–present
| media_type =
| pages =
| awards =
| isbn = 979-8-218-57457-4
| isbn_note =
| oclc =
| dewey =
| congress =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| native_wikisource =
| wikisource =
| notes =
| exclude_cover =
| website = {{URL|https://legalbluebook.com}}
}}
{{styles}}
 
'''''The Bluebook: aA Uniform System of Citation''''' is a book[[style andguide]] athat prescribes the most widely used [[legal citation]] system in the [[United States]]. The BluebookIt is compiledtaught byand theused [[Harvardat Lawa Review]]majority Association along with theof [[Columbia Law Review]],school in the [[UniversityUnited ofStates|law Pennsylvaniaschools Lawin Reviewthe United States]], and theis [[Yalealso Lawused Journal]].in Currently,a itmajority isof in[[United itsStates 18thfederal editioncourts|federal courts]]. Legal Itpublishers isalso souse namedseveral because"house" itscitation coverstyles isin their blueworks.
 
''The Bluebook'' is compiled by the ''[[Harvard Law Review]]'', ''[[Columbia Law Review]]'', ''[[Yale Law Journal]]'', and ''[[University of Pennsylvania Law Review]]''. Currently, it is in its 22nd edition (published May 2025). Its name was first used for the 6th edition (1939).{{sfn | Cooper | 1982 | p=21}} Opinions have differed regarding its origins at Yale and Harvard Law Schools, with the latter long claiming credit.<ref name=Liptak>Liptak, Adam [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/us/politics/yale-finds-error-in-legal-stylebook-harvard-did-not-create-it.html "Yale Finds Error in Legal Stylebook: Harvard Did Not Create It"] ''The New York Times'', December 7, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2024.</ref>
==Usage==
The Bluebook citation system is the standard at most American law schools and law journals (though the total number has been decreasing slowly). It is often used in the federal courts. In contrast, many state courts (especially [[New York]] and [[California]]) use homegrown citation systems which are quite different from Bluebook style.
 
The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] uses its own unique citation style in its opinions, even though most of the justices and their [[law clerk]]s obtained their [[Legal education in the United States|legal education]] at law schools that use ''The Bluebook''.<ref name="Salmon1">{{cite journal|last1=Salmon|first1=Susie|title=Shedding the Uniform: Beyond 'A Uniform System of Citation' to a More Efficient Fit|journal=Marquette Law Review|date=2016|volume=99|page=792|url=http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5289&context=mulr|access-date=28 April 2017|publisher=Marquette University|___location=Milwaukee}}</ref> Furthermore, many [[state court (United States)|state courts]] have their own citation rules that take precedence over the guide for documents filed with those courts. Some of the local rules are simple modifications to ''The Bluebook'' system. [[Delaware]]'s [[Supreme Court of Delaware|Supreme Court]] has promulgated rules of citation for unreported cases markedly different from its standards, and custom in that state as to the citation format of the Delaware Uniform Citation code<ref>Rohrbacher, Blake [https://courts.delaware.gov/superior/pdf/de_uniform_citation_2008.pdf "Delaware Uniform Citation"] 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2024.</ref> also differs from it.<ref>[https://courts.delaware.gov/forms/download.aspx?id=39368 Rule 14(g)] , Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware.</ref> In other states, the local rules differ from ''The Bluebook'' in that they use their own style guides. Attorneys in those states must be able to switch seamlessly between citation styles depending upon whether their work product is intended for a federal or state court. [[California]] has allowed citations in Bluebook as well as the state's own style manual,<ref>Cal. Rule of Court 1.200</ref> but many practitioners and courts continue recommending the ''[[California Style Manual]]''.<ref name="Salmon2">{{cite journal|last1=Salmon|first1=Susie|title=Shedding the Uniform: Beyond 'A Uniform System of Citation' to a More Efficient Fit|journal=Marquette Law Review|date=2016|volume=99|page=791|url=http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5289&context=mulr|access-date=28 April 2017|publisher=Marquette University|___location=Milwaukee}}</ref>
== Examples of Bluebook citation ==
The 18th edition Bluebook has 21 Rules. Each Rule comprises many complex detailed Rules.
 
An online-subscription version of ''The Bluebook'' was launched in 2008.<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131009085954/http://www.law.yale.edu/news/6288.htm The Bluebook Legal Citation Guide Now Available Online]'', {{smallcaps|Yale Law School}}, (Feb. 22, 2008) (archived from [http://www.law.yale.edu/news/6288.htm original] Oct. 9, 2013).</ref> A mobile version was launched in 2012 within the Rulebook app, which enables access for legal professionals to federal or state court rules, codes, and style manuals on [[iPad|iPads]] and other mobile devices.<ref>{{smallcaps|Law Librarianship in the Digital Age}} 142 (Ellyssa Kroski ed. 2013); Gabriella Khorasanee, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131206163441/https://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2013/08/theres-an-app-for-that-top-10-apps-for-law-students.html?DCMP=NWL-pro_top There's An App For That: Top 10 Apps for Law Students]'', {{smallcaps|Findlaw.com}}, (Aug. 23, 2013) (archived from [https://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2013/08/theres-an-app-for-that-top-10-apps-for-law-students.html?DCMP=NWL-pro_top original] Dec. 6, 2013).</ref>
# Structure and Use of Citations
# Typefaces for Law Reviews
# Subdivisions
# Short Citation Forms
# Quotations
# Abbreviations, Numerals, and Symbols
# Italicization for Style and in Unique Circumstances
# Capitalization
# Titles of Judges, Officials, and Terms of Court
# Cases
# Constitutions
# Statutes
# Legislative Materials
# Administrative and Executive Materials
# Books, Reports, and Other Nonperiodic Materials
# Periodical Materials
# Unpublished and Forthcoming Sources
# Electronic Media and Other Nonprint Resources
# Services
# Foreign Materials
# International Materials
 
== Elements ==
A beginner may want to study the first 9 rules and the citation of 5 types of most-frequently used materials: Cases (Rule 10), Constitutions (Rule 11), Statutes (Rule 12), Books (Rule 15) and Periodicals (Rule 16). Unless you're a practitioner, you may ignore court document citations at least in the very beginning of your study.
 
The 22nd edition of ''The Bluebook'' governs the style and formatting of various references and elements of a legal publication, including:
=== Rule 1-9: Introduction and general rules ===
The [[underline]] and [[emphasis (typography)|bold]] fonts are only added to distinguish each field. The Roman, [[italic type|italic]] and [[small caps]] fonts are required by the Bluebook for articles in law journals. The rules for practitioner citations are somewhat different (and often superseded by jurisdiction-specific requirements).
 
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
Rule 1.2 requires each source, regardless of type (e.g., book, case, periodical), to be introduced by a [[Legal citation signals|signal]] unless the cited authority (i) directly states the proposition, (ii) identifies the source of a quotation, or (iii) identifies an authority referred to in the text. The signal should be italicized.
* Structure and use of citations
* Typefaces for law reviews
* Subdivisions
* Short citation forms (for use when a document makes multiple references to the same case)<ref>[[Georgetown Law Library]], [https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=261289&p=2339389 Bluebook Guide: Short Citation Forms], accessed on 28 December 2024</ref>
* Quotations
* Abbreviations, numerals, and symbols
* Italicization for style and in unique circumstances
* Capitalization
* Titles of judges, officials, and terms of court
* Cases
* Constitutions
* Statutes
* Legislative materials
* Administrative and executive materials
* Books, reports, and other nonperiodic materials
* Periodical materials
* Unpublished and forthcoming sources
* Electronic media and other nonprint resources
* Services
* Foreign materials
* International materials
{{div col end}}
 
== History ==
Notes:
While the legal citation manuals go as far back as ''Modus Legendi Abbreviaturas in Utroque Iure'' published around 1475, there were very few examples prior to the 20th century; law professor Byron D. Cooper mentions only few short articles "Rules for Citation" (''[[The American Law Review]]'', 1896) and "Methods of Citing Statute Law" (Ruppenthal, ''[[Law Library Journal]]'', 1919).{{sfn | Cooper | 1982 | pp=20-21}} The ''Uniform System of Citations'' thus became a "pioneer" manual.{{sfn | Cooper | 1982 | p=21}}
* The author's name is the name signed on that article. If the article says "by [[Jennifer 8. Lee]]", do not use "Jennifer Eight. Lee" even if it's printed on her driver's license.
* The publish date is the date printed on that publication.
* Except for May, June, July and September (Sept.), all other months shall be abbreviated to the first four letters.
 
According to Harvard, the origin of ''The Bluebook'' was a pamphlet for proper citation forms for articles in the ''[[Harvard Law Review]]'' written by its editor, [[Erwin Griswold]].<ref>Christine Hurt, ''The Bluebook at Eighteen: Reflecting and Ratifying Current Trends in Legal Scholarship'', 82 {{smallcaps|Ind. L.J.}} 49, 51–52 (2007).</ref> However, according to a 2016 study by two [[Yale]] librarians,<ref name=Liptak/><ref>Fred R. Shapiro & Julie Graves Krishnaswami, ''The Secret History of the Bluebook'', [http://www.minnesotalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ShapiroKrishnaswami_ONLINEPDF.pdf 100 {{smallcaps|Minn. L. Rev.}} 1563] (2016).</ref> Harvard's claim is incorrect. They trace the origin of ''The Bluebook'' to a 1920 publication by [[Karl Llewellyn]] at Yale on how to write law journal materials for the ''[[Yale Law Journal]]''.<ref>{{smallcaps|Karl N. Llewellyn, The Writing of a Case Note}} (1920). This booklet had a blue cover, which Shapiro and Krishnaswami point out is "appropriate for its University," whose official color is blue.</ref> The authors point out that some of the material in the 1926 first edition of ''The Bluebook'' (as well as that in a 1922 Harvard precursor to it published as ''Instructions for Editorial Work'') duplicate material in the 1920 Llewellen booklet and its 1921 successor, a blue pamphlet that the ''Yale Law Journal'' published as ''Abbreviations and Form of Citation''.<ref>According to Shapiro and Krishnaswami:
=== Rule 10: Cases ===
<blockquote>''Bluebook'' 1 (1926) has approximately 30 sentences in common with ''Yale Law Journal'' ’s ''Abbreviations and Form of Citation'' (1921), as well as many of the sample citations, all of the proofreading signs, and virtually all of the items in the long list of abbreviations. They both begin with the same sentence: “This pamphlet does not pretend to include a complete list of abbreviations or all the necessary data as to form.” The subtitle of the ''Bluebook'' is “Abbreviations and Form of Citation.” The ''Jones v. Smith'' Connecticut citation that is the basic case citation example used by the Yale precursors back to Llewellyn-Field is the basic case example used in Bluebook 1. The Haines ''Yale Law Journal'' citation that is the basic periodical citation example used by the Yale precursors back to Llewellyn-Field is the basic periodical example used in ''Bluebook'' 1. Most of the section on treatises is identical between 1921 and 1926.</blockquote></ref>
The simplified general format of a case is:
 
For several years before the first edition of ''The Bluebook'' appeared, Yale, Columbia, and several other law journals "worked out a tentative citation plan", but Harvard initially opposed it "because of skepticism as to the results to be attained and in part because of a desire not to deviate from our forms especially at the solicitation of other Reviews". Eventually, Harvard "reversed course" and joined the coalition by 1926. According to Judge [[Henry J. Friendly]], "Attorney General [Herbert] Brownell, whom I had known ever since law school—he was Editor-in-Chief of the ''Yale Law Journal'' the year I was at the ''Harvard Law Review'' and he and I and two others [from Columbia and Pennsylvania] were the authors of the first edition of the ''Bluebook''."<ref>David M. Dorsen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9ctStY3580C&pg=PA71 {{smallcaps|Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era}}] 71 (2012).</ref> Friendly has been considered the creator of ''The Bluebook''.
: <u>Name of the case</u>, '''Published source(s)''', <u>Cited page(s)</u> ('''Court and jurisdiction''', <u>Year or date of the decision</u>), '''[optional] Subsequent history'''.
 
The cover of the 1926 ''A Uniform System of Citation'' was green. The color was "brown from the second (1928) edition through the fifth (1936) edition. It was only with the sixth (1939) edition that it became blue."<ref name="auto">Shapiro and Krishnaswami.</ref> In 1939, the cover of the book was changed from brown to a "more patriotic blue", allegedly to avoid comparison with a color associated with [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>A. Darby Dickerson, ''An Un-Uniform System of Citation: Surviving with the New Bluebook'', 26 {{smallcaps|Stetson L. Rev.}} 53, 58–60 (1996). According to Shapiro and Krishnaswami, however, "The abandonment of brown is often attributed to the association of that color with Nazi Germany in the 1930s, but that idea appears to trace to a joke by Alan Strasser," in [http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?men_tab=srchresults&handle=hein.journals/hcrcl12&id=515&size=2&collection=journals&terms=Alan%20Strasser&termtype=phrase&set_as_cursor=10 ''Technical Due Process: ?''], 12 {{smallcaps|Harv. C.R.-C.L. Rev.}} 507, 508 (1977). Strasser states, referring to the eleventh edition's change of cover color to white with a blue border promising a "new life," that "the 1939 ''Blue Book'' had electrified the nation by parading patriotic blue covers instead of the Germanic brown ones that had disgraced the 1936 edition." ''Id''. (footnote omitted).</ref> The eleventh edition, published in 1967, was actually white with a blue border.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160302144344/http://blawg.law.sc.edu/2015/07/13/all-the-fun-facts-about-the-bluebook/ ''All the Fun Facts about the Bluebook''].</ref> The cover color returned to blue in the twelfth edition of 1976.<ref>Strasser, at 508. Strasser states that the first printing was a "timid" blue-gray but later printings were a "more self-assured" navy blue. ''Id''. n.9.</ref>
:: such as:
 
The full text of the first (1926) through the fifteenth (1991) editions is available on the official website.<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120716192512/https://www.legalbluebook.com/public/introduction.aspx Introduction]'', {{smallcaps|Bluebook.com}}, (2010), (archived from the [https://www.legalbluebook.com/public/introduction.aspx original] June 24, 2013).</ref>
: <u>United States v. MacDonald</u>, '''531 F.2d 196''', <u>198-89</u> ('''4th Cir.''' <u>1976</u>), '''''rev'd'', 435 U.S. 850 (1978)'''.
 
''The Bluebook'' uses two different styles. Practitioners use the first in preparing court documents and memoranda, while the second is used primarily in academic settings, such as [[law reviews]] and journals.<ref>{{smallcaps|Deborah E. Bouchoux}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=RJ4vlBrWu0MC&dq=cite+checker+bouchoux&pg=PR4 {{smallcaps|Cite-Checker: A Hands-on Guide to Learning Citation Form}}] 9 (2001).</ref> The latter uses specific formatting to identify types of references, such as the use of [[small caps]] for books, newspapers, and law reviews.<ref>{{smallcaps|Bouchoux}}, at 9–10.</ref> A rule of thumb used by many is to see if the formatting can be reproduced on a [[typewriter]]—if so, practitioners use it, if it requires typesetting, it is used for academic articles.<ref>{{smallcaps|Bouchoux}}, at 10.</ref>
The [[underline]] and [[emphasis (typography)|bold]] tags are only added to distinguish each field. There are additional rules dealing with these parts. The [[italic type|italicized]] parts are required by the Bluebook.
 
By 2011, ''The Bluebook'' was "the main guide and source of authority" on legal references for the past 90 years.<ref>{{smallcaps|William H. Putman}}, {{smallcaps|Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing}} 468 (4th ed. 2011).</ref> It is recognized as the "gold standard" for legal references in the United States, even though it was originally designed only to help teach law students how to cite cases and other legal material.<ref>{{smallcaps|Bouchoux}}, at 1–2.</ref> Although other citation systems exist, they have limited acceptance, and in general, ''The Bluebook'' is followed in the legal citation as the most widely accepted citation style,<ref>{{smallcaps|Putman}}, at 468; {{smallcaps|Bouchoux}}, at 2; Kroski, at 263.</ref> called the "Bible", the "final arbiter", even the legal citation "[[Kama Sutra]]".{{sfn | Cooper | 1982 | p=21}} Some states have adopted ''The Bluebook'' in full, while others have partially adopted ''The Bluebook''.<ref>{{smallcaps|Putman}}, at 468–69.</ref> States such as Texas have supplements, such as ''The Greenbook'', that merely address citation issues unique to Texas and otherwise follow ''The Bluebook''.<ref>{{smallcaps|Brandon D. Quarles & Matthew C. Cordon}}, {{smallcaps|Legal Research for the Texas Practitioner}} 16 (2003); {{smallcaps|The Greenbook: Texas Rules of Form}} iv (12th ed. 2010).</ref>
The above citation points to a decision made by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit]] (4th Cir.) in [[1976]] and reversed by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in [[1978]]. The case's title is: ''United States v. MacDonald'' where the [[plaintiff]] was the [[United States]] represented by some [[United States Department of Justice]] [[United States Attorney|attorneys]] and the [[defendant]] was a [[murder]]er named [[Jeffrey MacDonald|Jeffrey Robert MacDonald]] who killed his wife and two daughters in [[1970]]. To use a database to retrieve the case, you may only need to enter "531 F.2d 196", the [[case citation]].
 
== Variations ==
To cite a U.S. Supreme Court decision, the court and jurisdiction field must be omitted because the name of the [[reporter (law)|reporter]] already says it all, because - where the Federal Reporter, cited in the preceding example, covers many courts of appeals - the United States Reporter covers only the Supreme Court. For example:
 
=== Federal ===
: <u>Roe v. Wade</u>, '''410 U.S. 113''', <u>116<u> ('''1973''').
The [[United States Solicitor General|Solicitor General]] issues a style guide that is designed to supplement ''The Bluebook''.<ref>{{smallcaps|The Solicitor General's Style Guide}} 1 (Jack Metzler ed. 2007).</ref> This guide focuses on citation for practitioners, such as restraining law reviews to two typefaces: normal and italics.<ref>Metzler, at 14.</ref> Other changes are similiarly minor, such as moving ''supra'' from before the page referenced to after the page number.<ref>Metzler, at 20.</ref> The guide does state that unless explicitly specified otherwise, ''The Bluebook'' rule takes precedence in the event of conflict.<ref>Metzler, at 1.</ref>
 
=== State ===
There are additional rules dealing with undecided cases, unpublished interim orders, unpublished decisions, and many other legal documents. A beginner may not use these documents very often.
California used to require use of the ''California Style Manual''.<ref>{{smallcaps|Edward W. Jessen}}, {{smallcaps|California Style Manual}} 1 (4th ed. 2000).</ref> In 2008, the [[California Supreme Court]] issued a rule giving an option of using either the ''California Style Manual'' or ''The Bluebook''.<ref>2013 Calif. R. of Ct. 1.200; {{smallcaps|The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation}} 30 (Mary Miles Prince ed., 19th ed. 2010).</ref> The two styles are significantly different in citing cases, in use of ''ibid.'' or ''id.'' (for ''{{lang|la|[[idem]]}}''), and in citing books and journals.<ref>''[http://libguides.law.ucla.edu/loader.php?type=d&id=92912 Legal Research and Writing Manual]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}'', {{smallcaps|UCLA School of Law}} (2013).</ref> Michigan uses a separate official citation system issued as an administrative order of the Michigan Supreme Court.<ref>Elan S. Nichols, ''Checklists for Drafting, Formatting, and Submitting Litigation and Other Documents: Instructive Material for Law Students Practicing in Law School Clinics, and Reminders for the Practicing Attorney and Her Staff'', 15 {{smallcaps|T.M. Cooley J. Prac. & Clinical L.}} 57, 58 (2013).</ref> The primary difference is that the Michigan system "omits all periods in citations, uses italics somewhat differently, and does not use 'small caps.'"<ref>Nichols, at 58 n.3.</ref> As noted above, Texas merely supplements ''The Bluebook'' with items that are unique to Texas courts, such as citing cases when Texas was an independent republic,<ref>{{smallcaps|The Greenbook}}, at 101.</ref> petition and writ history,<ref>{{smallcaps|The Greenbook}}, at 20–26.</ref> and [[Texas Attorney General|Attorney General]] Opinions.<ref>{{smallcaps|The Greenbook}}, at 76–78.</ref>
 
== Reception ==
=== Rule 11: Constitutions ===
The United States only has 51 constitutions. That means constitutions are very easy to cite.
 
=== Criticism of ''Bluebook''{{'}}s prolixity ===
To cite the [[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article 1]], Section 9, Clause 2 of the [[United States Constitution]]:
 
At over 500 pages for the 19th edition, ''The Bluebook'' is significantly more complicated than the citation systems used by most other fields. Legal scholars have called for its replacement with a simpler system.<ref name=yale>Richard A. Posner, ''[http://www.yalelawjournal.org/review/the-bluebook-blues The Bluebook Blues]'', 120 {{smallcaps|Yale L.J.}} 850–861 (2011).</ref> The [[University of Chicago]] uses the simplified "[[Maroonbook]]",<ref>80 {{smallcaps|[http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/page/maroonbook The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation]}} 1 (Bradley G. Hubbard, Taylor A.R. Meehan, & Kenneth A. Young eds. 2013).</ref> and even simpler systems are in use by other parties.
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. art. I, &sect; 9, cl. 2.
 
During his tenure on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]], Judge [[Richard Posner]] repeatedly criticized the ''Bluebook''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Post |first=David |date=9 February 2016 |title=The New (And Much Improved) 'Bluebook' Caught in the Copyright Cross-Hairs |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/02/09/the-new-and-much-improved-bluebook-caught-in-the-copyright-cross-hairs/ |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> In 1986, he wrote the article "Goodbye to the ''Bluebook''," hoping that the Maroonbook would quickly overtake it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Posner |first=Richard A. |date=1986 |title=Goodbye to the Bluebook |url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2797&context=journal_articles |journal=[[University of Chicago Law Review]] |volume=53 |pages=1343-1368}}</ref> In 2011, he wrote the article "The ''Bluebook'' Blues," lamenting that the ''Bluebook'' remained dominant despite its increasing complexity, while providing the 885-word citation manual used among his [[Law clerk|law clerks]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Posner |first=Richard A. |date=2011 |title=The Bluebook Blues |url=https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/940_342795vd.pdf |journal=[[The Yale Law Journal]] |volume=120 |pages=850-861}}</ref>
To cite the Section 2 of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]]:
 
=== ''BabyBlue'' copyright controversy ===
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. amend. XIV, &sect; 2.
[[File:Cover of Baby Blue's Manual of Legal Citation.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''[[BabyBlue]]'']]
[[File:The Indigo Book cover.png|thumb|''[[Indigo Book]]'' cover]]
 
Another dispute is over the copyright status of ''The Bluebook''. Open-source advocates claim that ''The Bluebook'' is not protected under copyright because it is a critical piece of legal infrastructure.<ref>In addition, according to NYU Professor Christopher Sprigman, "the copyright for the 10th edition of the tome, published in 1958, was never renewed, and ... that means it is in the public ___domain." See [http://abovethelaw.com/2016/02/yale-law-students-support-the-end-of-the-bluebook/?rf=1 ''Yale Law Students Support The End Of The Bluebook''], {{smallcaps|Above the Law}} (February 9, 2016).</ref> Lawyers who represent the Bluebook publishing consortium claim that the "carefully curated examples, explanations and other textual materials" are protected by copyright.<ref>{{cite web | publisher=[[American Bar Association]] | title=Legal minds differ on whether The Bluebook is subject to copyright protection | date=February 1, 2015 | author=Leslie A. Gordon | url=http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/legal_minds_differ_on_whether_the_bluebook_is_subject_to_copyright_protecti | access-date=July 30, 2015}}</ref>
To cite the [[Preamble to the United States Constitution]]:
 
A group led by Professor Christopher J. Sprigman at NYU Law School prepared a "public-___domain implementation of the ''Bluebook''{{'s}} Uniform System of Citation," which his group calls ''BabyBlue''. However, in 2015, a law firm (Ropes & Gray) representing the Harvard Law Review Association (HLRA) sent him a letter stating:
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. pmbl.
 
{{blockquote|[W]e believe that ''[[BabyBlue]]'' may include content identical or substantially similar to content or other aspects of ''The Bluebook'' that constitute original works of authorship protected by copyright, and which are covered by various United States copyright registrations.&nbsp;...
To cite a state constitution, in this case, the Article 4, Section 7 of [[New Mexico]]:
 
[M]y client has been and remains concerned that the publication and promotion of such a work may infringe the Reviews' copyright rights in ''The Bluebook'' and ''The Bluebook'' Online, and may cause substantial, irreparable harm to the Reviews and their rights and interests in those works.&nbsp;...
: N.M. C<small>ONST</small>. art. IV, &sect; 7.
 
[I]t is our client's position that the title ''BabyBlue'', or any title consisting of or comprising the word "Blue", when used on or in connection with your work, would so resemble the ''BLUEBOOK'' Marks as to be likely, to cause confusion, mistake, and/or deception…Accordingly, and to avoid any risk of consumer confusion, my client respectfully demands that you agree (i) not to use the title or name ''BabyBlue'', or any other title or name including the word "blue", for your work.<ref>Letter quoted in Jacob Gershman, [https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/12/28/bluebook-critics-incite-copyright-clash/?mod=WSJBlog ''Bluebook Critics Incite Copyright Clash''], {{smallcaps|Wall Street Journal Law Blog}} (December 28, 2015), and in Mike Masnick, ''Harvard Law Review Freaks Out, Sends Christmas Eve Threat Over Public Domain Citation Guide''], in {{smallcaps|Techdirt}} (December 28, 2015).</ref>}}
If the constitutional provision has been repealed, you may simply cite the year of the repeal, or include the repealing provision in full. For example, the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|18th Amendment]] ([[prohibition]]) was ratified in [[1919]] and repealed in [[1933]] by the [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|21st Amendment]]:
 
In response to the HLRA letter to Sprigman, over 150 students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Harvard Law School signed a petition supporting ''BabyBlue''. Yale and NYU students added their separate petitions supporting ''BabyBlue''.<ref name="HLR Feb 2016">[http://hlrecord.org/2016/02/harvard-law-review-should-welcome-free-citation-manual-not-threaten-lawsuits/ ''Harvard Law Review Should Welcome Free Citation Manual, Not Threaten Lawsuits''], {{smallcaps|Harvard Law Record}} (February 16, 2016).</ref> A posting in the ''Harvard Law Record'' commented:
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933).
 
{{blockquote|The intellectual property claims that the HLR Association made may or may not be spurious. But independent of that, the tactics employed by the HLR Association's counsel in dealing with Mr. Malamud and Prof. Sprigman are deplorable. The Harvard Law Review claims to be an organization that promotes knowledge and access to legal scholarship. It is a venerated part of the traditions of Harvard Law School. But these actions by the Harvard Law Review speak of competition and not of justice.<ref name="HLR Feb 2016"/>}}
:: or
 
The posting also suggested that HLRA should "redirect the money it spends on legal fees ($185,664 in 2013)" to a more worthy purpose.<ref name="HLR Feb 2016"/> David Post commented: "It's copyright nonsense, and Harvard should be ashamed of itself for loosing its legal hounds to dispense it in order to protect its (apparently fairly lucrative) publication monopoly."<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/02/09/the-new-and-much-improved-bluebook-caught-in-the-copyright-cross-hairs/ ''The new (and much improved) 'Bluebook' caught in the copyright cross-hairs''], {{smallcaps|Washington Post}}, ''The Volokh Conspiracy'' (February 9, 2016).</ref> On March 31, 2016, it was announced that the project had changed its name to ''[[The Indigo Book]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Zuckerman|first1=Michael|title=Response|url=https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2806393/Harvard-Response-20160331.pdf|publisher=[[public.resource.org]]|access-date=21 April 2016}}</ref>
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. amend. XVIII, ''repealed by'' U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. amend. XXI.
 
== Financial controversy ==
Amendments use the same format for repeals:
 
For the first 50 years of the ''Bluebook''<nowiki/>'s history, the Harvard Law Review kept 100 percent of the revenues.<ref name="Secret History">{{Bluebook journal|first=Fred R.|last=Shapiro|first2=Julie Graves|last2=Krishnaswami|title=The Secret History of the Bluebook|volume=100|issue=4|journal=Minnesota Law Review|page=222|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2697068|year=2016 |punct=}}, Yale Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 560</ref> In 1974, the editors of the ''[[Columbia Law Review|Columbia]]'' and ''[[University of Pennsylvania Law Review]]s'' and the ''[[Yale Law Journal]]'' apparently discovered this due to an indiscretion.<ref>According to [[Joan Wexler|Joan G. Wexler]], Dean and then President of [[Brooklyn Law School]], some members of the ''Harvard Law Review'' disclosed to her at a lunch one day in [[San Francisco]] where they were all summer associates "[w]hat a cash cow" the ''Bluebook'' was for their review. She consulted Professor [[Ralph S. Brown]] at Yale Law School, who taught copyright, and he said, "sue them!" See Shapiro and Krishnaswami.</ref> They complained that Harvard was illegally keeping all profits from the first eleven editions, estimated to total $20,000 per year.<ref>W. Duane Benton, ''Developments in the Law – Legal Citation'', 86 {{smallcaps|Yale}} L.J. 197, 202 (1976).</ref> After they threatened to sue, Harvard agreed to split the revenue: 40 percent for Harvard, 20 percent each for Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Yale; Harvard would continue to provide the production and distribution services.<ref name="auto"/>
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. art. I, &sect; 2, cl. 1 (repealed 1913).
 
The law reviews have not disclosed the revenues of the ''Bluebook'' themselves, but revenues from the sale of the ''Bluebook'' have been estimated "in the millions of dollars".<ref name="Secret History" /> A 2022 review of the ''Harvard Law Review''<nowiki/>'s non-profit disclosures found that the ''Bluebook'' had made $1.2 million in profits in 2020, with ''The Harvard Law Review'' taking an 8.5% cut of profits for administrative services and the remainder split equally among the four law reviews. Profits from the ''Bluebook'' totaled $16 million between 2011 and 2020. Excluding the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'', the law review's endowments total $59.4 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Daniel |title=Harvard-led Citation Cartel Rakes in Millions from Bluebook Manual Monopoly, Masks Profits |url=https://danielstone.substack.com/p/legal-bluebook-profits-havard-yale-columbia-penn |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=danielstone.substack.com |date=9 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
:: or
 
== See also ==
: U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. art. I, &sect; 2, cl. 1, ''repealed by'' U.S. C<small>ONST</small>. amend. XVII, &sect; 1.
* ''[[Australian Guide to Legal Citation]]''
* ''[[Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation]]''
* [[Case citation]]
* [[Legal citation signals]]
* ''[[Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities]]'' (''OSCOLA''; UK)
 
== References ==
Note:
* The article number must be written in [[Roman numerals]] (''e.g.'' I, II, III, IV, ...).
 
{{reflist|30em}}
=== Rule 12: Statutes ===
To cite an individual provision of the ''[[United States Code]]'':
 
== Sources ==
: <u>Title number</u> '''Code abbreviation''' &sect; <u>Specific section</u> ('''Date of code edition cited''').
* {{cite journal | last=Cooper | first=Byron D. | title=Anglo-American Legal Citation: Historical Development and Library Implications | journal=Law Library Journal | date=1982 | volume = 75 | issue=3 | url=https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub/1745/ | access-date=2024-03-19 | pages = 1745–}}
 
:: such as:
 
: <u>28</u> '''U.S.C.''' &sect; <u>1291</u> ('''1994''').
 
For the full text of the cited statue, please visit: [http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode28/usc_sec_28_00001291----000-.html Title 28 > Part IV > Chapter 83 > § 1291].
 
=== Rule 15: Books ===
: <u>A<SMALL>UTHOR'S FULL NAME</SMALL></u>, '''B<SMALL>OOK'S TITLE</SMALL>''' <u>cited page</u> ('''editor's full name''' ed., <u>publisher</u> '''year of the edition''') (<u>original publication date</u>)
 
:: such as:
 
: <u>C<SMALL>HARLES</SMALL> D<SMALL>ICKENS</SMALL></u>, '''B<SMALL>LEAK</SMALL> H<SMALL>OUSE</SMALL>''' <u>50</u> ('''Norman Page''' ed., <u>Penguin Books</u> '''1971''') <u>(1853)</u>.
 
In this case, [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[Bleak House]]'' is cited. This book was first published in [[1853]], but is now in the [[public ___domain]]. The edition cited here was edited by Norman Page and published by [[Penguin Books]] in [[1971]]. The cited page is page 50. <!-- <u></u> '''''' -->
 
=== Rule 16: Periodicals ===
==== Rule 16.3: Consecutively paginated journals ====
The simplified general format is:
 
: <u>Author's full name</u>, '''''Article's title''''', <u>Volume number</u> '''J<small>OURNAL</small> T<small>ITLE</small>''' <u>Start page</u>, '''Cited page''', (<u>Published year</u>).
 
The author's name of a journal article must not be set in small caps.
 
: <u>Patricia J. Williams</u>, '''''Alchemical Notes: Reconstructed Ideas from Deconstructed Rights''''', <u>22</u> '''H<small>ARV</small>. C.R.&mdash;C.L. L. R<small>EV</small>.''' <u>401</u>, '''407''' (<u>1987</u>).
 
If the cited journal lacks a volume number, use the published year as a substitute:
 
: <u>Thomas R. McCoy & Barry Friedman</u>, '''''Conditional Spending: Federalism's Trojan Horse''''', <u>1988</u> '''S<small>UP</small>. C<small>T</small>. R<small>EV</small>.''' <u>85</u>, '''100'''.
 
Notes:
* The year 1988 now moves to the volume number's place.
 
==== Rule 16.4: Nonconsecutively paginated journals ====
The simplified general format is:
 
: <u>Author's full name</u>, '''''Article's title''''', <u>Journal's title</u>, '''Date of issue''', at <u>First page</u>, '''Cited page'''.
 
:: such as:
 
: <u>Barbara Ward</u>, '''''Progress for a Small Planet''''', <u>H<small>ARV</small>. B<small>US</small>. R<small>EV</small>.</u>, '''Sept.-Oct. 1979''', at <u>89</u>, '''90'''.
 
If the article is not signed, the author's name must be omitted:
 
: '''''Damages for a Deadly Cloud: The Bhopal Tragedy Will Cost Union Carbide $470 Million''''', <u>T<small>IME</small></u>, '''Feb. 27, 1989''', at '''53'''.
 
==== Rule 16.5: Newspapers ====
The simplified general format is:
 
: <u>Author's full name</u>, '''''Article's title''''', <u>Journal's title</u>, '''Date of issue''', <u>Cited section</u>.
 
:: such as:
 
: <u>Ari L. Goldman<u>, '''''O'Connor Warns Politicians Risk Excommunication over Abortion''''', <u>N.Y. T<small>IMES</small></u>, '''June 15, 1990''', at <u>A1</u>.
 
== Criticism ==
The Bluebook is notorious for being too rule-oriented, too concise, and too cryptic in comparison to the far more helpful citation system guides used in other academic fields (e.g., [[Turabian]]). It has been criticized for the maddeningly bizarre nature of some of its rules, such as having two separate styles: one for academic legal articles (where citations are always [[footnote]]d), and one for court documents (where citations are usually inline).
 
=== Cryptic styles ===
The current systems of citation are also artificially limited by the printing process. Many cryptic [[abbreviation]]s were created to cram more footnotes on a page. This can make a Bluebook-compliant article very difficult to study. A layperson may have a difficult time to figure out which abbreviation refers to which [[journal]] (''e.g.'': T<SMALL>UL</SMALL>. M<SMALL>AR</SMALL>. L.J. means ''Tulane Maritime Law Journal''; if a reader knows little about [[Tulane University]] or [[admiralty law|maritime law]] as a legal branch, this citation can be difficult to decipher).
 
The Bluebook also encourages content-specific omission of page indicators. Unlike most other citation systems, it seldom uses "page", "p." or "pp." ([[plural]] form) to indicate page numbers. At most, the Bluebook uses "at". If it is allowed to omit the "at", it is ''required'' to do so.
 
=== Internet and other digital sources ===
Most researchers today use the [[Internet]] daily or even hourly. In addition to legal databases such as [[Westlaw]] and [[LexisNexis]], most researchers would use every possible Internet- or [[CD-ROM]]-, [[DVD-ROM]]-based reference materials. Some of them may use [[Wikipedia]]. By definition, Internet materials are indispensable to [[cyber law]] researchers. However, Rule 18 of the 17th edition Bluebook, published in 2000, was generally regarded as not good enough even as a guidebook. (Note: see the guide to citation to the Wikipedia below.)
 
The presumption of Bluebook is to cite a printed copy if it is available. You only cite a digital copy when a printed copy is not available. However, since many publishers of newspapers, books and periodicals, government offices and even courts are providing digitized materials online, many researchers may use printed materials only once in a while. Some materials, such as courtroom [[transcript (law)|transcripts]], are usually only available as [[image scanner|scanned]] [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] files or even [[sound recording]]s. Today, it becomes more and more unreasonable to ask writers or readers to get a printed copy of something from a [[library]].
 
To help people and a computer recognize the boundary of a [[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]], many citation systems encourage the use of [[bracket|"less than" and "greater than" signs]] to enclose URLs (e.g., <nowiki><http://www.wikipedia.org/</nowiki>>. Bluebook does not follow this convention. It uses nothing. Therefore, a long and confusing URL may not be quickly deciphered by eye or even a [[computer program]].
 
The 18th edition is improved. For example, it now includes rules about citing [[weblog]]s. However, it will take time to see if the improved rules will be helpful to researchers.
 
=== Outdated rules ===
Some ''Bluebook'' rules are created too long ago to be useful today. For example, Rule 14.9 in the 17th edition requires one to cite a U.S. [[patent]] in a way such as: "U.S. Patent No. 4,405,829 (issued Sept. 20, 1983)." This rule is no longer helpful after the amendment of 35 U.S.C. &sect; 154 which has been in force since [[June 8]], [[1995]]. Before the amendment, a U.S. patent lasts 17 years from the date of issue; after the amendment, it is 20 years from the date of the first U.S. filing (there are many exceptions, see: [[Term of patent in the United States]]). The date of issue now becomes much less useful than the date of first U.S. filing or the [[Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property|priority date]].
 
The 18th edition of ''The Bluebook'' has changed this rule, requiring the filing date instead of the issue date.
 
=== Court document citation ===
The system of court document citation was developed for the least-advanced [[typewriter]]s. An over-burdened [[law clerk]] sitting in front of an inexpensive mechanical typewriter does not have the luxury being able to choose from various [[typeface]]s and [[font]]s. A typewriter also does not help its user create footnotes. The development of such a different system is therefore reasonable. However, with advancement of [[personal computer|personal computation]] and [[word processors]], the progress of technologies may one day make the old system obsolete.
 
===Inconsistency between editions===
Some revisions between editions often create what are regarded as arbitrary and capricious changes that can make a legal citation mean something different between citations. An example is the change of the [[legal citation signal|see signal]] between the 15th edition and the 16th edition. In the 15th edition, see signified that a particular source clearly supports the proposition and no signal signified that a source stated the proposition. The 16th edition changed the see signal to sources that state or support the proposition. The 17th edition changed the see signal back to the same as the 15th edition. Thus, many documents written during the time of 16th edition used see in instances in which all other editions would require use of either a see signal or no signal.
 
Another example is Rule 10.4 for court names and jurisdictions. In the 17th edition, Rule 10.4(b) states that for court citations, "Omit the jurisdiction if it is unambiguously conveyed by the reporter title," but the 18th edition states "Omit the jurisdiction (but not the court abbreviation) if it is unambiguously conveyed by the reporter title." Thus Dubrueil v. Witt, 80 Conn. App. 410 (2003) is the proper citation under the 17th edition and Dubreuil v. Witt, 80 Conn. App. 310 (App. Ct. 2003) is the proper citation under the 18th edition.
 
== Challengers ==
To make legal citation more intuitive and logical, several other alternatives have been proposed, of which the [[ALWD Citation Manual|ALWD system]] appears to be the most viable competitor.
 
== Learning aids ==
Mary Miles Prince, the Coordinating Editor of the Bluebook, publishes a much larger book called ''Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Citations'' which contains examples of how to cite virtually every well-known legal publication in North America under the Bluebook system. The current edition of the Bluebook is included as an appendix.
 
[[Lawmanac]] (http://www.lawmanac.com/) also published a set of [[Microsoft WinHelp]] offline legal reference materials that includes "Legal Citation & Style: A Course for All Legal Writers and Legal-Support Staff" by C. Edward Good. This learning aid also covers ALWD.
 
== Citation to Wikipedia ==
The [[Harvard Journal of Law and Technology]] has adopted the following format for citations to articles in Wikipedia:
* [''Signal''] Wikipedia, [''article''], <nowiki>http://en.wikipedia/wiki/</nowiki>[article] [(optional other parenthetical)] (as of [date], [time] GMT).
Here is an example:
*''See'' Wikipedia, ''Bluebook'', <nowiki>http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Bluebook</nowiki> (describing history and application of the Bluebook) (as of Mar. 21, 2006, 20:50 GMT).
 
This format derives from Rule 18.2 of volume 18 of the Bluebook, though the date parenthetical differs slightly. The parenthetical here is designed to specify the exact version of the article to which the author is referring, recognizing that articles can and do change often. The date and time used should correspond exactly to the latest version listed in the article's Wikipedia history page that states the proposition for which you are citing it. Use of GMT conforms to the timestamp format used in those history entries (e.g., use 24-hour notation to avoid AM/PM).
 
==See also==
* [[Case citation]]
* [[ALWD Citation Manual]]
* [[The Chicago Manual of Style]]
* [[Legal citation signals]]
 
== External links ==
* ''[https://law.resource.org/pub/us/code/blue/IndigoBook.html The Indigo Book: An Open and Compatible Implementation of a Uniform System of Citation]'', a public-___domain implementation of the ''Bluebook'' rules
* [http://www.legalbluebook.com/ The Bluebook Official Site]
* [https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/ Introduction to legal citation], by Peter W. Martin
* [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html The Chicago Manual of Style Official Site]
* [http://www.law.cornellsuffolk.edu/citationlaw/library/19543.php freeA introBluebook toGuide legalfor citationLaw Students], by Scott Akehurst-Moore
 
[[Category:LegalAmerican citationlaw journals]]
[[Category:Bibliography]]
[[Category:StyleLegal citation guides]]