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Citation Tools: Legal Sources

Court Cases (APA)

Court Case Decisions (APA)

Name v. Name, volume number and reporter abbreviation page number (year).

You may also add a URL after the year, but this is not required.

Example:

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

In-text:

Name v. Name (Year)

(Name v. Name, Year)

See APA Style Blog for more detailed information

Case documents

Document name, case citation (docket number), Retrieved from URL.

Example - merit brief:

Merit brief of petitioners James Obergefell, et al and Brittani Henry, et al v. Richard Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) (no. 14-556). Retrieved from https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/obergefell-v-hodges/

In-text citation

Overgefell v. Hodges (2015)   or   (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015)

Congressional Bills (APA)

Congressional Bills (APA)

*note: each line after the first line should be indented

Title if relevant, bill or resolution number, xxx Cong. (year).

Example:

Getting Involved in Researching, Learning, and Studying of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Act, H.R. 2762, 114 Cong. (2015).

In-text: 

House of Representatives Bill 2762 (2015)

OR

(H.R. 2762, 2015)

***note: if the bill has passed, it should be cited as a statute unless the bill is being cited as a piece of legislative history.

Legislation/Statutes (APA)

Legislation/Statutes (APA)

Title of the legislation, Title number Source § Section number(s) (Year).

Example:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (2006).

***note: a section symbol (§) should be listed before the section number

In-text citation:

Title of the legislation and the year

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (2006)

OR

(Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 2006)

See APA Style Blog Entry for more detailed information