Introduction to Basic Legal Citation - access-to-law home

A citation consisting only of the core items represents that a clear holding of a majority of the
court stands for the proposition with which the writer has associated it. It also represents that
there have been no legal proceedings in the case occurring after the cited opinion that affect
its authority. Finally, with a court that releases both "published" and "unpublished" or "nonprecedential"
decisions, in the absence of any indication otherwise, the citation of a decision
represents that it has been designated for publication.
§ 2-240(1) Examples
– City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 31, 50 (2000) (Rehnquist, C.J.,
dissenting).
– Edmond v. Goldsmith, 183 F.3d 659 (7th Cir. 1999), aff'd, 531 U.S. 31 (2000).
Principle 1: If the citation is to a dissenting, concurring, or plurality opinion or to dictum,
that fact should be reported in separate parentheses following the date
§ 2-240(2) Examples
– City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 31, 50 (2000) (Rehnquist, C.J.,
dissenting).
– Edmond v. Goldsmith, 183 F.3d 659 (7th Cir. 1999), aff'd, 531 U.S. 31 (2000).
Principle 2: If there have been one or more subsequent actions in the case cited, citations
to those actions should be reported following the core items, preceded by an abbreviation
indicating the nature of the action (§ 4-200). However, denials of certiorari by the U.S.
Supreme Court or of similar discretionary appeals by other courts need not be reported
unless they are recent (within the past two years) or otherwise noteworthy.
§ 2-240(3) Example
– Davis v. Barnhart, No. 05-10980, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 22201 (11th Cir. Oct. 12,
2005) (unpublished).
Principle 3: If the deciding court releases both "published" and "unpublished" or
"nonprecedential" decisions and the latter carry less weight, decisions of that category
should have the characterization given them by the court placed in parentheses following
the date. That is unnecessary with US Court of Appeals decisions cited to West's Federal
Appendix reporter since it contains only "unpublished" decisions. Before citing an
unpublished decision, however, see § 2-250.
21