Manual of Legal Citation/Quotations

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Manual of Legal Citation
Table of Contents
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Foreword and Introduction
Foreword
Introduction
Background Rules
Rule 1. Two Types of Legal Documents
Rule 2. Typeface Standards
Rule 3. In-Text Citations
Rule 4. Signals
Rule 5. Capitalization Rules
Rule 6. Signals for Supporting Authority
Rule 7. Signals for Comparison
Rule 8. Signals for Contradictory Authority
Rule 9. Signals for Background Material
Rule 10. Order of Authorities Within Each Signal / Strength of Authority
Cases
Rule 11. Full citation
Rule 12. Court & Year
Rule 13. Weight of Authority and Explanatory Parenthetical
Rule 14. History of the Case
Rule 15. Short Form Citation for Cases
Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and Other Legislative & Administrative Materials
Rule 16. Federal Statutes
Rule 17. State Statutes
Rule 18. Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Restatements, and Uniform Acts
Rule 19. Administrative Rules and Regulations
Rule 20. Federal Taxation Materials
Rule 21. Legislative Materials
Rule 22. Short Form Citation of Legislative and Administrative Materials
Rule 23. Sources and Authorities: Constitutions
Court & Litigation Documents
Rule 24. Citing Court or Litigation Documents from Your Case
Rule 25. Citing Court or Litigation Documents from Another Case
Rule 26. Short Form Citation for Court Documents
Rule 27. Capitalization Within the Text of Court Documents and Legal Memoranda
Books & Non-Periodicals
Rule 28. Full Citation for Books & Non-Periodicals
Rule 29. Short Form Citation for Books & Non-Periodicals
Journals, Magazines, & Newspaper Articles
Rule 30. Full Citation for Journals, Magazines & Newspaper Articles
Rule 31. Short Form Citation for Journals, Magazines & Newspaper Articles
Internet Sources
Rule 32. General Principles for Internet Sources
Rule 33. Basic Formula for Internet Sources
Rule 34. Short Form Citations for Internet Sources
Explanatory Parentheticals
Rule 35. General Principles for Explanatory Parentheticals
Rule 36. Order of parentheticals
Quotations
Rule 37. General Principles for Quotations
Rule 38. Alterations of Quotations
Rule 39. Omissions in Quotations
Rule 40. Special Rules for Block Quotations
Tables
Table 1. Federal Judicial and Legislative Materials
Table 2. Federal Administrative and Legislative Materials
Table 3. U.S. States and Other Jurisdictions
Table 4. Required Abbreviations for Services
Table 5. Required Abbreviations for Legislative Documents
Table 6. Required Abbreviations for Treaty Sources
Table 7. Required Abbreviations for Arbitral Reporters
Table 8. Required Abbreviations for Intergovernmental Organizations
Table 9. Required Abbreviations for Court Names
Table 10. Required Abbreviations for Titles of Judges and Officials
Table 11. Required Abbreviations for Case Names In Citations
Table 12. Required Abbreviations for Geographical Terms
Table 13. Required Abbreviations for Document Subdivisions
Table 14. Required Abbreviations for Explanatory Phrases
Table 15. Required Abbreviations for Institutions
Table 16. Required Abbreviations for Publishing Terms
Table 17. Required Abbreviations for Month Names
Table 18. Required Abbreviations for Common Words Used In Periodical Names
Table 19. Table of Citation Guides
Table 20. Tables of Correspondence
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments

R37. General Principles for Quotations[edit | edit source]

R37.1. Quotation marks[edit | edit source]

Quotations should be designated with quotation marks, except for block quotations.

R37.2. Flow with surrounding text[edit | edit source]

The quotation should flow with the rest of the text unless it is a block quotation (see below).

R37.3. Punctuation in quoted text[edit | edit source]

Punctuation that is part of the quoted text should appear inside the quotation marks. Commas and periods that are not part of the quoted text should also appear inside the quotation marks.

R37.4. Citation sentence placement[edit | edit source]

Insert the citation sentence for the quoted material directly after the close of the quotation marks.


R38. Alterations of Quotations[edit | edit source]

R38.1. Omission of Letters from a Common Root Word[edit | edit source]

Place an empty bracket at the end of a common root word to indicate the change.
  • Example: “The court dismissed the claim[].”

R38.2. Mistakes in the Original Quotation[edit | edit source]

To acknowledge a significant mistake in the original quotation, keep the problematic word or phrase and follow it with [sic] to indicate this to the reader.
  • Example: “The Copyright Office are [sic] a department of the Library of Congress.”

R38.3. Substitution of Letters or Words[edit | edit source]

Any substitutions into quoted material should be bracketed. This includes:
  • words which might add clarity and context
  • changes to the capitalization of letters
  • Example: “[T]he [Copyright] Office is a department of the Library of Congress.”

R38.4. Use of Parenthetical Clauses to Indicate Changes to Quotation[edit | edit source]

  • (emphasis added)
  • (alteration in original)
  • (citation omitted)
  • (emphasis omitted)
  • (internal quotation marks omitted)
  • (footnote omitted)

R38.5. Quotation within a quotation[edit | edit source]

When using a quotation within a quotation, you can either
  1. attribute it to the original source with a parenthetical, or
  2. acknowledge it by signalling that its citation has been omitted.
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The following should not be indicated in a parenthetical:
  • Emphasis (indicated by italics/underline) in a quotation that was copied from the original source.
  • Omission of a citation or footnote call number that follows a quotation.


R39. Omissions in Quotations[edit | edit source]

R39.1. Generally[edit | edit source]

  • Omissions are indicated by an ellipsis [ . . . ]
  • The ellipsis in legal writing is represented by three periods, with a space after the last letter of the preceding phrase, a space between each period, and a space before the first letter of the following phrase.
  • An ellipsis never begins a quotation.

R39.2. Omitting the beginning of a quoted sentence[edit | edit source]

When omitting the beginning of a quoted sentence, do not use an ellipsis. Instead, capitalize the first letter and place it in brackets.
  • Example: “[T]he actual knowledge provision turns on whether the provider actually or subjectively knew of specific infringement, while the red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.”

R39.3. Omitting the middle of a quoted sentence[edit | edit source]

When omitting the middle of a quoted sentence, insert an ellipsis to indicate the omission
  • Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is . . . between a subjective and an objective standard.”

R39.4. Using a quotation as a complete sentence[edit | edit source]

When using a quotation as a complete sentence:
  • Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge, but instead between a subjective and an objective standard. In other words, the actual knowledge provision turns on whether the provider actually or subjectively knew of specific infringement, while the red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.” Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 676 F.3d 19, 31 (2d Cir. 2012).

R39.5. Using a quotation as a phrase or clause[edit | edit source]

When using a quotation as a phrase or clause: If there is an omission within the quotation, mark the omission with an ellipsis.
  • Example: Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc., 545 U.S. 546, 571 (2005) (noting that “[t]he distinguished jurists who drafted the Subcommittee Working Paper . . . agree that this provision, on its face, overrules Zahn.”).

R39.6. Omitting material from two consecutive sentences[edit | edit source]

When omitting material at the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next sentence, use one ellipsis to mark the omission but include the final punctuation mark of the first sentence as well as bracket and capitalize the first letter of the following quoted sentence portion.
  • Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge . . . . [T]he red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.”

R39.7. Omitting the end of a quoted sentence[edit | edit source]

When omitting the end of a quoted sentence, insert an ellipsis between the last letter quoted and the punctuation mark of the original quote.
  • Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge . . . .”

R39.8. Omitting a footnote or citation[edit | edit source]

When omitting a footnote or citation, insert a parenthetical indicating the omission immediately after the citation to the quoted source (see Rule 36. Order of parentheticals and Rule 38.4. Use of Parenthetical Clauses to Indicate Changes to Quotation).

R39.9. Omitting material following sentence[edit | edit source]

When omitting material following a final punctuation mark, do not use an ellipsis.
  • Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge, but instead between a subjective and an objective standard.”

R39.10. Omitting material between sentences[edit | edit source]

When omitting material following a final punctuation mark but including material in the next sentence use an ellipsis to connect the final punctuation with the beginning of the new quote and capitalize and bracket the next letter.
  • Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge, but instead between a subjective and an objective standard. . . . [T]he red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.”


R40. Special Rules for Block Quotations[edit | edit source]

R40.1. Basic form[edit | edit source]

Set off quotations consisting of 50+ words into a block quotation, which appears as in the example below:
Here is where the block quotation should begin and here is where it should end. See the indentations on the right and left sides? This is how it should appear in your writing. The reasoning behind this set-up is to offset the lengthy quotations from the rest of the text and to clearly indicate that this is all directly cited material.

R40.2. Formatting of block quotations[edit | edit source]

  • Block quotations are single spaced.
  • Indent both left and right.
  • Block quotations should be formatted with “full justification”—that is, all lines in a paragraph are expanded so they butt up against both the left and right text margins. Note that this is not a Bluebook requirement, but it is required by many law reviews.
  • DO NOT use quotation marks surrounding the block quotation.
  • Internal quotation marks should appear as in the original.
  • The citation following a block quotation should start at the line’s left margin, without any indentation.
Example: Judge Patterson explains the excellence of the Harry Potter series:

Plaintiff J.K. Rowling is the author of the highly acclaimed Harry Potter book series [. . .] Written for children but enjoyed by children and adults alike, the Harry Potter series chronicles the lives and adventures of Harry Potter and his friends as they come of age at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and face the evil Lord Voldemort. [. . .] It is a tale of a fictional world filled with magical spells, fantastical creatures, and imaginary places and things [. . .]

Warner Bros. Entm’t Inc. v. RDR Books, 575 F. Supp. 2d 513, 518 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (describing an excellent book series).

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Here is where some have noted that The Bluebook rules sometime produce odd results. The Bluebook makes no exception for quotations of 50 or more words in parentheticals (unless used in a footnote in a law review article), meaning that the following footnote is formatted correctly, if bizarrely:

See id. (

To perhaps a greater extent than even the legal scholars, modern economists assume that property consists of an ad hoc collection of rights in resources. Indeed there is a tendency among economists to use the term property to describe virtually every device—public or private, common-law or regulatory, contractual or governmental, formal or informal—by which divergences between private and social costs or benefits are reduced.

(citations omitted)).

[Source: http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2005/05/the_bluebook_is.html]