Faulkner University - Decoding Legal Citations

Decoding Legal Citations

"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation..." Isaiah 28:16

Case Citations:

Citation example for a United States Supreme Court case:

384 U.S. 436

Decoding the citation format:

384	U.S.	436
Volume #	Name of the set of	Page #

Statutory Citations:

Federal statute example:

28 U.S.C. § 1983 Decoding the citation format:

28	U.S.C.	1983
Title #	Name of the set of statutes	Section#

Alabama statute example: Code of Alabama, 1975, 16-5-10 Decoding the citation format:

1975	16 - 5 - 10
Code Edition	Title - Chapter - Section#

COMMON ABBREVIATIONS: U.S. Supreme Court Reporters

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF REPORTER	LOCATION
U.S.	United States Reports	1st Floor - Aisle 119
S.Ct.	Supreme Court Reporter	1st Floor - Aisle 119
L.Ed. & L.Ed.2d	United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition	1st Floor - Aisle 118
U.S.L.W.	United States Law Week	Reserve Collection- Current 2 years Older than 2 years -1st Floor - Aisle 24

Federal Court Reporters - Lower Federal Courts

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF REPORTER	LOCATION
F., F.2d, or F.3d	Federal Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 120-124
F.Supp. or F.Supp.2d	Federal Supplement	1st Floor - Aisles 125-128
F.R.D.	Federal Rules Decisions	2d Floor - Aisle 221-222

Regional Reporters: State Cases

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF REPORTER	LOCATION
A., A.2d	Atlantic Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 133-134
N.E., N.E.2d	North Eastern Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 134-135
N.W., N.W.2d	North Western Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 135-136
P., P.2d	Pacific Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 137-140
S.E., S.E.2d	South Eastern Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 141-142
S.W., S.W.2d	South Western Reporter	1st Floor - Aisles 143-145
So., So.2d	Southern Reporter	1st Floor - Aisle 146-150

Alabama Court Reporters

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF REPORTER	LOCATION
Ala.	Alabama Reports	Alabama - Aisle 103-104
Ala. App.	Alabama Appellate Reports	Alabama - Aisle 104

Statutes - Names & Abbreviations of Federal & Alabama Compilations

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF COMPILATION	LOCATION
U.S.C.	United States Code	1st Floor - Aisle 115
U.S.C.A.	United States Code Annotated	1st Floor - Aisle 116
U.S.C.S.	United States Code Service	1st Floor - Aisle 115
Ala. Code	State Code of Alabama	Reserve Collections & Alabama - Aisle 101

Cases and Annotations

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF REPORTER	LOCATION
A.L.R., A.L.R. 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th,or Fed.	American Law Reports	Reference - Aisles 110-112

National Encyclopedias

ABBREVIATION	NAME OF REPORTER	LOCATION
Am.Jur., Am.Jur.2d	American Jurisprudence	Reference Aisle 113
C.J.S.	Corpus Juris Secundum	Reference - Aisle 113-114

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