For information about the federal court system, visit the U.S. Courts website. See T1.1, pp. 227-42, for abbreviations for the U.S. Federal Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Courts.
Visit the Federal Court Website Links page, which will provide access to various federal courts, including important local rules for those courts.
United States Reports is an official publication of the United States Government, and it is the preferred reporter to cite for U.S. Supreme Court cases per The Bluebook. The Supreme Court Reporter and United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition are other reporters for U.S. Supreme Court cases.
The Federal Reporter (for cases after 1891), as well as the Federal Appendix (for cases after 2001), contain cases for the Circuit Courts of Appeals.
For District Court cases after 1932, use the Federal Supplement.
There are also specific reporters for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and Bankruptcy Courts, among others.
Refer to T1.1 (pp. 227-30) for a detailed background of Federal Judicial and Legislative Materials.
Generally, when citing a U.S. Supreme Court case, the official reporter, the United States Reports, will be used when the case is published therein. See T1.1, p. 227.
A citation to a case in the United States Reports will include the following five elements:
Bluepage Examples
Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
To include a pinpoint citation, add that page number(s) after the first page of the decision.
Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954).
Whitepage Examples
While United States Reports is the preferred reporter to cite for U.S. Supreme Court cases, there can be a significant lag between when the Court decides a case and when it is published in that reporter. In these instances, citation of the case as published in one of the unofficial Supreme Court reporters, Supreme Court Reporter or United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition, will be necessary. According to The Bluebook, citation to the Supreme Court Reporter is preferred over the United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition. See T1.1, p. 227. It should be noted that the volume and page numbers for each unofficial reporter will be different than those found in the United States Reports.
Bluepage Examples
Whitepage Examples
A parallel citation is the same case reported in a different publication. Most courts (including the U.S. Supreme Court) and attorneys use parallel citations to both of the aforementioned unofficial reporters when citing to U.S. Supreme Court decisions. While this practice is not required, applicable local rules should be consulted. The order for United States Supreme Court parallel citations is U.S.; S. Ct; L. Ed.:
Mincey v Arizona, 437 U.S. 385; 98 S. Ct. 2408; 57 L. Ed. 2d 290 (1978).
As noted above, if a cite for the United States Reports is not yet available, the proper citation form dictates that the format ___ U.S. ___ should be used followed by a parallel cite to a printed source.
Be mindful that local rules in various jurisdictions may contain different citation guidelines. For instance, the Style Manual for the Supreme and Appellate Courts of Illinois (p.56) provides the following direction for United States Supreme Court Decisions. Generally, the Illinois Style Manual calls for citation to the United States Reports (U.S.) as stated in The Bluebook (T1).
However, the Illinois Style Manual indicates that for a decision that has not yet been reported in the United States Reports advance sheets, leave a blank for the beginning page number, as well as any required pinpoint, and add a citation to the Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.), including any applicable pinpoint page.
Full citation: Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. ___, ___, 132 S. Ct. 2455, 2460 (2012).
Short citation: Miller, 567 U.S. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2460.
Id. citation: Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2460.
The Illinois Style Manual further provides that it is always preferred to include a volume number, even if it has yet to be published. Volume numbers can be found on the Opinions of the Court page.
Decisions for federal courts of appeals are not compiled in an official reporter, as there is no official, government-published reporter for the federal appellate courts of appeals or the federal district courts. As such, many decisions from the courts of appeals are published in West's Federal Reporter. If a court of appeals case is published in the Federal Reporter, The Bluebook provides the citation standard in T1.1, p. 228.
A citation to a court of appeals decision in the Federal Reporter has six elements:
Bluepage Example
Shakman v. City of Chi., 426 F.3d 925, 936 (7th Cir. 2005).
Whitepage Example
Shakman v. City of Chi., 426 F.3d 925, 936 (7th Cir. 2005).
As noted above, cases from the federal district courts are not compiled in an official reporter. Rather, cases from the district courts are published in West's Federal Supplement. Citation rules for published district court cases are set forth in The Bluebook in T1.1, p. 229).
A citation to a district court case in the Federal Supplement includes the same six elements as set forth above for federal appellate cases, except that the reporter abbreviation will be "F. Supp." or "F. Supp. 2d."
Bluepage Example
United States v. Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs, 506 F. Supp. 657, 672 (S.D Ind. 1979).
Whitepage Example
United States v. Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs, 506 F. Supp. 657, 672 (S.D Ind. 1979).
Specialized federal courts, like the U.S. Court of Federal Claims or the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, have slightly different citation rules. Refer to T1.1, pp. 228-30, for directions on how to cite materials from those courts.