|
PLR Page |
Resource |
Rule |
Twenty-First Edition (2020) |
Twenty-Second Edition (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38, n. 3 | Restatements | R. 12.9.4 | For restatements, give the year in which the principle or restatement was published. | No change |
| 49, n. 11 | Blackstone's Commentaries | R. 15.8(b) | In a very few well-known works, the page of the original edition (star page) is indicated, usually by an asterisk (*), in either the margin or the text of all recent editions. In such cases, the date and edition may be omitted and the citation may be made to the star page, unless the material cited was inserted by the editor of the cited edition. There is no space between the asterisk and the page number: 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries *152, *155–56. | In a few well-known works, there is a standardized pagination or numbering for pincites across editions. This numbering is usually indicated in either the margin or the text of all recent editions. In such cases, the date and edition may be omitted and the citation may be made to the standardized page, unless the material cited was inserted by the editor of the cited edition: 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries *152, *155–56. |
| 55, n. 7 | Student journal articles | R. 16.7.1 | Signed and titled notes, comments, projects, etc. are cited in the same manner as any other signed article in a law review (rule 16.4), with the author’s full name in ordinary roman type at the beginning of the citation (rule 16.2), except that the designation of the piece should appear before the title of the work (rule 16.3) to indicate that it is student-written. | No change |
| 70, n. 1 | Constitutions | R. 11 | Cite the United States federal and state constitutions by “U.S.” or the abbreviated name of the state, respectively (as indicated in table T10) and the word “Const.” . . . Cite constitutional provisions currently in force without a date. | Generally, cite constitutions by the abbreviated name of the jurisdiction (as indicated in table T10) and the word “Const.” . . . Cite constitutional provisions currently in force without a date. |
| 91, n. 2 120, n. 40 |
Advance services (statutes) | R. 12.2.1(a) | If available, cite statutes currently in force to the current official code or its supplement. Otherwise, cite a current unofficial code or its supplement, the official session laws, privately published session laws (e.g., United States Code Congressional and Administrative News), a commercial electronic database, a looseleaf service, an internet source, or a newspaper—in that order of preference[.] | No change |
| 107, n. 18 | Federal session laws | tbl. T1.1 | Cite public laws before 1957 by chapter number; cite subsequent acts by public law number. | No change |
| 114, n. 30 | U.S. Code | R. 12.3.2 | Citations to the federal code, whether official or unofficial, do not require a date. | No change |
| 116, n. 32 | Statutes no longer in force | R. 12.2.1(b) | Cite statutes no longer in force to the current official or unofficial code if they still appear therein. Otherwise, cite the last edition of the official or unofficial code in which the statute appeared, the session laws, or a secondary source—in that order of preference. | No change |
| 122, n. 47 | State codes | R. 12.2.1(b) | If available, cite statutes currently in force to the current official code or its supplement. | No change |
| 135, n. 10 | Bills | R. 13.2 | When citing federal bills, include the name of the bill (if relevant), the abbreviated name of the house, the number of the bill, the number of the Congress, the section (if any), and the year of publication[.] | No change |
| 138, n. 13 | Hearings | R. 13.3 | When citing federal committee hearings, always include the entire subject matter title as it appears on the cover, the bill number (if any), the subcommittee name (if any), the committee name, the number of the Congress, the page number of the particular material being cited (if any), and the year of publication. | No change |
| 141, n. 17 | Committee reports | R. 13.4(a) | Citations to numbered federal reports should include the name of the house, the number of the Congress connected by a hyphen to the number of the report, the part and/or page number on which material being cited appears, and the year of publication. | No change |
| 145, n. 24 | Congressional Record | R. 13.5 | Cite congressional debates after 1873 to the Congressional Record; use the daily edition only for matters not yet appearing in the permanent edition. | No change |
| 157, n. 37 | USCCAN | R. 13.4(a) | When possible (and particularly for documents published after 1974), give a parallel citation to the permanent edition of United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (rule 12.6)[.] | No change |
| 169, n. 7 171, n. 11 |
Executive orders & proclamations |
tbl. T1.2 | Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations, and Reorganization Plans: Cite by page number to 3 C.F.R. as per rule 14.2 except that, because not all executive orders are reprinted in successive years of the C.F.R., cite to the year of the first edition of the C.F.R. where the executive order was reprinted, rather than that of the most recent edition of the C.F.R. Append a parallel citation to the U.S.C. if also therein. |
No change |
| 174, n. 19 | Other presidential papers | tbl. T1.2 | Cite to the Public Papers of the Presidents (Pub. Papers), if therein. For material not recorded in the Public Papers, cite the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc.), published from 1965 to January 29, 2009, the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (Daily Comp. Pres. Doc.), published from January 29, 2009 to date, or the U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.) (rule 12.6). | No change |
| 188, n. 23 |
Federal regulations | R. 14.2 | The Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) publishes rules and regulations before they are entered into the Code of Federal Regulations. Citations to rules or regulations in the Federal Register should give any commonly used name of the rule or regulation, the volume and page on which the rule or regulation (or any preceding discussion thereof) begins, and the date of the rule or regulation. | No change |
| 189, n. 27 | Code of Federal Regulations | R. 14.2 | Whenever possible, cite federal rules and regulations to the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) by title, section or part, and year . . . Each title of the Code of Federal Regulations is revised at least once a year; cite the most recent edition. | No change |
| 199, n. 38 | Administrative adjudications | R. 14.3.2(a) | Cite the official reporter of the agency if the opinion appears therein[.] | No change |
| 224, n. 6 | Dictum in case law | R. 10.6.1(a) | When a case is cited for a proposition that is not the single, clear holding of a majority of the court (e.g., alternative holding; by implication; dictum; dissenting opinion; plurality opinion; holding unclear), indicate that fact parenthetically[.] | No change |
| 225, n. 7 | Slip opinions | R. 10.8.1(b) | When a case is unreported but available in a separately printed slip opinion, give the docket number, the court, and the full date of the most recent major disposition of the case[.] | No change |
| 230, n. 9 |
Public domain citations |
R. 10.3.1 | If the decision is available as an official public domain citation (also referred to as medium-neutral citation), that citation must be provided, as well as a parallel citation to the regional reporter, if available. | No change |
| 230, n. 11 260, n. 39 |
Print reporters, Regional reporters |
R. 10.3.1 | [C]ite the relevant regional reporter, if the decision is found therein. | No change |
| 243, n. 5 | Nominative reporters | R. 10.3.2 | [F]or United States Supreme Court reporters through 90 U.S. (23 Wall.) and a few early state reporters (see table T1.3), give the name of the reporter’s editor and the volume of that series. | No change |
| 247, n. 9 | SCOTUS reports | tbl. T1.1 | Supreme Court (U.S.): Cite to U.S., if therein; otherwise, cite to S. Ct., L. Ed., or U.S.L.W., in that order of preference. | No change |
| 252, n. 19 | Lower federal court cases online | R. 18.2 | The Bluebook requires the use and citation of traditional printed sources when available, unless there is a digital copy of the source available that is authenticated, official, or an exact copy of the printed source[.] | No change |
| 252, n. 22 | Federal appellate court cases | R. 10.4 | Every case citation must indicate which court decided the case. | No change |
| 311, n. 3 | Topical services | R. 19.1(c) | Cite services by paragraph or section number if possible, otherwise by page number. | No change |
| 368, n. 10 | Treaties | R. 21.4.5(a) | For agreements between the United States and another party, cite one of the following sources, in the following order of preference: U.S.T. (or Stat.); T.I.A.S. (or T.S., or E.A.S.); U.N.T.S.; Senate Treaty Documents or Senate Executive Documents; the Department of State Dispatch; Department of State Press Releases. If the agreement has not appeared in one of these official sources, cite an unofficial treaty source (rule 21.4.5(c))[.] . . . For agreements among three or more parties to which the United States is a party, cite one of the U.S. domestic sources listed in rule 21.4.5(a)(i), if therein. Additionally, a parallel citation may be added from one source published by an international organization (e.g., U.N.T.S., L.N.T.S., O.A.S.T.S., Pan-Am. T.S., O.J., E.T.S., or C.E.T.S.), if therein[.] |
For agreements between the United States and another party, cite one of the following sources, in the following order of preference: U.S.T.I.F.; T.I.A.S. (or T.S., or E.A.S.); U.N.T.S.; Senate Treaty Documents or Senate Executive Documents; U.S.T. (or Stat.); the Department of State Dispatch; Department of State Press Releases. If the agreement has not appeared in one of these official sources, cite an unofficial treaty source (rule 21.4.5(c))[.] . . . For agreements among three or more parties to which the United States is a party, cite one of the U.S. domestic sources listed in rule 21.4.5(a)(i), if therein. Additionally, a parallel citation may be added from one source published by an international organization (e.g., U.N.T.S., L.N.T.S., O.A.S.T.S., Pan-Am. T.S., O.J., E.T.S., or C.E.T.S.), if therein[.] |
Note, also, that much of the material in Chapter 9, Section 3 (American Indian Law, pp. 214-17) is now covered by Rule 22 and Table 1.5, which have been added to the twenty-second edition of The Bluebook.
