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Bluebook Resources

Liberty University has shifted to The Bluebook 21st edition. Below are current resources available for students. This page is still under construction, so please check back for updates (this statement will be removed once the page is finalized):

*  Bluebook Citation Primer

*  Bluebook Exercises (video)  — Note that this video shows the 20th edition, but all of the information presented therein is all current, relevant, and applicable to the 21st edition, too.

* Bluebook Video Tutorial for Beginners

 


The sample paper and template provided herein are only intended for use in writing essays and research papers for PLST and JURI courses where the formatting requirements are otherwise unspecified. They are not intended to be used for legal documents such as case briefs, memos, persuasive briefs, complaints, etc.

  Bluebook sample paper for PLST and JURI class essays

  Bluebook essay template


Below are some Bluebook resources  recommended by Liberty University pre-law and law professors:


For specific Bluebook-related questions, contact lawref@liberty.edu.


Books (see section B15 of The Bluebook 21st edition)

Full citation

 

Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing and Analysis 16 (4th ed. 2015).
Full citation included with sentence

 

“A trial court’s decision usually can be appealed to a higher court.” Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing and Analysis 16 (4th ed. 2015).
Short citation Id. at 14.

or

Id. at 14.

 

Bible

Bible quote with citation “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (King James).

 

Notice that the book of the Bible is italicized (or underlined; see the Bluebook Citations Primer). Also, please note the version of the Bible in parenthesis

 

Internet

Full citation Eric Posner, More on Section 7 of the Torture Convention, The Volokh Conspiracy (Jan. 29, 2009, 10:04 AM), http://volokh.com/2009/01/29/more-on-section-7-of-the-torture-convention/.

 

Full citation with sentence Mark Kleiman rebutted Eric Posner’s argument that Attorney General Eric Holder had complete discretion to decline prosecution for violations of the Convention Against Torture on political or policy grounds. Eric Posner, More on Section 7 of the Torture Convention, The Volokh Conspiracy (Jan. 29, 2009, 10:04 AM), http://volokh.com/2009/01/29/more-on-section-7-of-the-torture-convention/.

 

Short citation Id.

or

Id.

 

The author’s name, then the title of the specific page of the website (underlined OR italicized), then the title of the main page of the website, the date and time the website was last updated, and the URL (make sure to remove the hyperlink, blue font, and underlining of the URL).

 

Articles

Full citation Richard A. Posner, Goodbye to the Bluebook, 53 U.Chi.L.Rev. 1343, 1345 (1986).

 

Full citation included with sentence The term “hypertrophy” is used by anthropologists “to describe the tendency of human beings to mindless elaboration of social practices.” Richard A. Posner, Goodbye to the Bluebook, 53 U.Chi.L.Rev. 1343 (1986).

 

Short citation Id. at 1344.

or

Id. at 1344.

 

Always start with the full name of the author, followed by a comma. Then, cite the full name of the article (underlined or italicized), followed by a comma. Then, the volume number of the law review, followed by the abbreviation of the law review (see T13, starting on page 321). Then, the first page of the article, followed by a comma, then the specific page referred to in the information cited. Finally, the year of the publication of the article should be placed at the end in parenthesis.

 

Legal Resources (cases, constitutions, legislative materials, etc.)

Case or Court Decisions

** Italicize (or underscore) case names” (B2; both options shown only for first example below)

** “Omit all parties other than the first party listed on each side of the “v.” (B10.11)

** “For names of individuals, use only last names, omitting first names, middle names, and  initials”
(B10.11)

** Abbreviate “in the matter of” and “petition of” to “In re.”

** “Once you have provided a full citation to an authority, you may use a ‘short form’ in later citations
of the same authority” (see section B10.2 for parameters; examples provided for the first case below)

U.S. Supreme Court case, with a page number Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

or

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

Short form options:

Id. at 486.

or

Id. at 486.

U.S. Supreme Court case, without page number (insert three underscore lines in place of page)

 

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015).

or

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015).

U.S. circuit court case Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 951 F.2d 1128 (9th Cir. 1991).

or

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 951 F.2d 1128 (9th Cir. 1991).

 

U.S. district court case Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 133 F. Supp. 2d 1034 (N.D. Ohio 2001).

or

Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 133 F. Supp. 2d 1034 (N.D. Ohio 2001).

 

U.S. district court case with appeal Durflinger v. Artiles, 563 F. Supp. 322 (D. Kan. 1981), aff’d, 727 F.2d 888 (10th Cir. 1984).

or

Durflinger v. Artiles, 563 F. Supp. 322 (D. Kan. 1981), aff’d, 727 F.2d 888 (10th Cir. 1984).

 

State supreme court case Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976)

or

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976).

 

State appellate court case Texas v. Morales, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

or

Texas v. Morales, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

 

  

Statutes (Laws and Acts)

Federal statute Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990). https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm

 

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 (1964). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-78/pdf/STATUTE-78-Pg241.pdf

 

State statute in state code

(When the law has a formal title)

 

(Examples of state statutes with no formal titles.  See Table T1 in your Bluebook 21st edition for each state’s rules and abbreviations.)

 

Florida Mental Health Act, Fla. Stat. § 394 (1971 & rev. 2009). http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statutes&URL=0300-0399/0394/0394.html

 

Fla. Stat. § 671.1-101

 

810 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/1-101

 

Iowa Code § 554.1101

 

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 382-A: 1-101

 

Va. Code Ann. § 8.1-101

 

Legislative Materials

Federal testimony Federal real property reform: How cutting red tape and better management could achieve billions in savings, U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. (2016) (testimony of Norman Dong). http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/233107

 

Full federal hearing Strengthening the federal student loan program for borrowers: Hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, 113th Cong. (2014). https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/strengthening-the-federal-student-loan-program-for-borrowers

 

Unenacted federal bill or resolution Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, 113th Cong. (2013). https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1100/text

 

Enacted simple or concurrent federal resolution S. Res. 438, 114th Cong., 162 Cong. Rec. 2394 (2016) (enacted). https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2016/04/21/senate-section/article/S2394-2

 

Federal report H.R. Rep. No. 114-358 (2015). https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-114hrpt358/pdf/CRPT-114hrpt358.pdf

 

Administrative and Executive Materials

Federal regulation, codified Protection of Human Subjects, 45 C.F.R. § 46 (2009). https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sites/default/files/ohrp/policy/ohrpregulations.pdf

 

Federal regulation, not yet codified Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees, 81 F.R. 32391 (proposed May 23, 2016) (to be codified at 29 C.F.R. § 541). https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/23/2016-11754/defining-and-delimiting-the-exemptions-for-executive-administrative-professional-outside-sales-and

 

Executive order Exec. Order No. 13,676, 3 C.F.R. 294 (2014). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2015-title3-vol1/pdf/CFR-2015-title3-vol1-eo13676.pdf

 

Patent Hiremath, S. C., Kumar, S., Lu, F., Salehi, A. (2016). Using metaphors to present concepts across different intellectual domains (U.S. Patent No. 9,367,592). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=9367592

 

Constitutions and Charters

Article of the U.S. Constitution U.S. Const. art. 1, § 3.

 

Article of a state constitution

 

S.C. Const. art. XI, § 3.
Amendment to the U.S. or state Constitution

 

U.S. Const. amend. XIX. [1]
Repealed amendment to the U.S. Constitution

 

U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933).
U.S. Bill of Rights

 

U.S. Const. amend. I–X.
Charter of the United Nations U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3.

 

Treaties and international conventions United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989,

https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

[1] No date is needed unless the amendment has been repealed.


 

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