Bluebook Citation Examples for Every Source Type
A comprehensive reference of properly formatted Bluebook citations for cases, statutes, constitutions, regulations, law review articles, treatises, restatements, and more. Every example follows the 21st edition rules and is ready to copy into your legal writing.
U.S. Supreme Court Cases
Cite Supreme Court cases to the United States Reports (U.S.) whenever possible. Do not include the court name in the parenthetical because the U.S. Reports only publishes Supreme Court opinions.
Example 1
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803).
Example 2 (with pinpoint)
Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954).
Example 3
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
Federal Circuit Court Cases
Circuit court opinions are published in the Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d, or F.4th). Always include the circuit abbreviation in the parenthetical.
Second Circuit
Zervos v. Verizon N.Y., Inc., 252 F.3d 163 (2d Cir. 2001).
Ninth Circuit (with pinpoint)
United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 946 F.2d 1466, 1467 (9th Cir. 1991), rev'd, 504 U.S. 655 (1992).
D.C. Circuit
Heller v. District of Columbia, 670 F.3d 1244 (D.C. Cir. 2011).
Federal District Court Cases
District court opinions appear in the Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d, or F. Supp. 3d). Include the district abbreviation and state in the parenthetical.
Southern District of New York
Williams v. City of New York, 121 F. Supp. 3d 354, 360 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).
Northern District of California
Oracle Am., Inc. v. Google Inc., 872 F. Supp. 2d 974 (N.D. Cal. 2012).
State Court Cases
State cases may be cited to official state reporters or regional reporters. If the reporter identifies the court, omit the court from the parenthetical. If it does not, include the court.
New York Court of Appeals (official reporter)
Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co., 248 N.Y. 339 (1928).
California Supreme Court
Greenman v. Yuba Power Prods., Inc., 59 Cal. 2d 57 (1963).
Texas Supreme Court (regional reporter)
Torrington Co. v. Stutzman, 46 S.W.3d 829 (Tex. 2000).
Federal Statutes
Federal statutes are cited to the United States Code (U.S.C.). Include the title number, the code abbreviation, the section symbol, the section number, and the year of the code edition in parentheses.
Section 1983 (Civil Rights)
42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2018).
Americans with Disabilities Act
42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213 (2018).
Sherman Antitrust Act
15 U.S.C. § 1 (2018).
Use the section symbol (§) followed by a space before the section number. For multiple sections, use a double section symbol (§§). The year in the parenthetical refers to the year of the code edition, not the year the statute was enacted.
State Statutes
State statute citation formats vary by state. Consult Bluebook Table T1 for the correct format for each jurisdiction. Here are examples from three major states:
California
Cal. Civ. Code § 1714 (West 2024).
New York
N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349 (McKinney 2024).
Texas
Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Ann. § 17.46 (West 2023).
U.S. Constitution
Constitutional provisions are cited by article or amendment, section, and clause. Do not include a date unless the provision has been repealed or superseded.
Amendment
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
Article and Clause
U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3.
Repealed Amendment
U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933).
Federal Regulations
Federal regulations are cited to the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). Include the title number, C.F.R., the section or part number, and the year.
Environmental Regulation
40 C.F.R. § 122.1 (2023).
SEC Regulation
17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5 (2023).
Law Review Articles
Cite law review articles by author name, article title (in italics), volume number, journal abbreviation, first page, and year. Use Table T13 for journal abbreviations.
Example 1
Cass R. Sunstein, On the Expressive Function of Law, 144 U. Pa. L. Rev. 2021 (1996).
Example 2 (with pinpoint)
Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 Yale L.J. 733, 771 (1964).
For student-written pieces, add the designation after the author's name. For example: "Note" or "Comment" appears before the title, not the author's name.
Treatises and Books
Cite treatises by volume (if applicable), author name, title (in italics), section or page, edition (if not the first), and year of publication.
Multi-volume Treatise
5 Arthur Corbin, Corbin on Contracts § 1105 (rev. ed. 1993).
Single-volume Book
Richard A. Posner, Economic Analysis of Law 45 (9th ed. 2014).
Restatements
Restatements are cited by their full title (in small caps in law review format) followed by the section number and the year of publication. The title includes the series designation.
Restatement (Second) of Torts
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (Am. L. Inst. 1965).
Restatement (Second) of Contracts
Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 90 (Am. L. Inst. 1981).
Short Form and Id. Examples
After providing a full citation, you can use short forms and Id. for subsequent references. Here are the most common patterns:
Full citation (first reference)
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444 (1966).
Id. (same source, same page)
Id.
Id. at (same source, different page)
Id. at 467.
Short form (after intervening citation)
Miranda, 384 U.S. at 478.
Statute short form
§ 1983.
Law review article short form
Sunstein, supra, at 2035.
Treatise short form
Posner, supra, at 52.
Remember: Id. can only be used when the immediately preceding citation is to a single source. If the preceding footnote cites more than one authority, use the short form instead. Supra is used for secondary sources; never use supra for cases or statutes.