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PHIL 3200: Politics and the Law

Citing a Supreme Court Case

Once you select a case, make sure you write down or save the elements that identify the case. There are five important elements to know. If you are citing in a specific style such as MLA, APA, or Chicago Style, consult your style manual.

Name of Case (underlined or italicized) Gonzales vs. Oregon
Volume # of the United States Reports (official reporter) 546
Reporter abbreviation (U.S.) U.S.
First page where the case can be found in the reporter. 243
Year the case was decided (in parentheses).You will also want to take note of the following: (2006)
You will also want to take note of the following:  
Docket # 04-623
Date argued: October 5, 2005
Date decided: January 17, 2006

Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243 (2006)

 

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The official reporter is the United States Reports (US).

There are two unofficial, parallel reporters as well:
Supreme Court Reporter (S.CT)
United States Supreme Court Reports Lawyers' Edition (L. Ed. or L.Ed.2nd).

The above case would be cited in the parallel reporters as below::

Supreme Court Reporter (S.CT): 126 S. Ct. 904 = Volume 126 beginning at page 904

United States Supreme Court Reports Lawyers' Edition (L. Ed. or L.Ed.2nd): 163 L.Ed.2d 748, Volume 163 at page 748.