APA Format Style Guide: Legal References

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!

References for a case or court decision includes the following information:

• title or name of case (e.g. Brown v. Board of Education)
• citation - usually to a volume or page of a set of books where published cases can be found, called "Reporters" (e.g. Federal Reporter, Second Series)
• precise jurisdiction of the court writing the decision (e.g. Supreme Court, New York Court of Appeals)
• date of the decision
• URL - optional - where you retrieved the case information

Federal Court Decisions

U.S. Supreme Court - Decisions are published in the United States Reports

• Reference List: Name v. Name, Volume U.S. Page (Year). URL
• Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
• Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)

U.S. Supreme Court case, with a page number

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483

U.S. Supreme Court case, without a page number

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf

U.S. Circuit Court - Decisions are published in the Federal Reporter

• Reference List: Name. v. Name, Volume F. [or F.2d, F.3d] Page (Court Year). URL
• Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
• Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)

U.S. circuit court case

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 951 F.2d 1128 (9th Cir, 1991). https://openjurist.org/951/f2d/1128/william-daubert-v-merrell-dow-pharmaceuticals

U.S. District Court - Decisions are published in the Federal Supplements

• Reference List: Name v. Name, Volume F. Supp. Page (Court Year). URL
• Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name,Year)
• Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)

U.S. district court case

Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 133 F. Supp. 2d 1034 (N.D. Ohio 2001). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/133/1034/2293141

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). https://openjurist.org/727/f2d/888/durflinger-v-artiles

State Court Decisions

Can refer to the state supreme court, state appellate court, or state trial court

• Reference Lists: Name v. Name, Volume Reporter Page (Court Year). URL
• Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
• Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)

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). https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/torts/torts-keyed-to-dobbs/the-duty-to-protect-from-third-persons/tarasoff-v-regents-of-university-of-california

State appellate court case

Texas v. Morales, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992). https://www.leagle.com/decision/19921027826swd20111010

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!

A statute is a law or act passed by a legislative body.  Statutes exist on the federal and state level.  

Federal statutes are published in the United States Code (U.S.C.).  State statutes are published in state-specific compilations; for example a Florida statute could be found in the Florida Statutes.

The reference template for statutes is as follows:

• Reference List: Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL
• Parenthetical Citation:(Name of Act, Year)
• Narrative Citation:Name of Act (Year)

Federal Statute, Americans with Disabilities Act

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

Federal Statute, Civil Rights Act of 1964

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

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

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!

Legislative materials include federal testimony, hearings, bills, resolutions, reports and related documents.  Bills and resolutions that have been passed by Congress and signed by the President should be cited as statutes.  

When a URL is available, it is optional to include it in the reference list entry.

Federal testimony

Title of testimony, xxx Cong. (Year) (testimony of Testifier Name). URL

Federal real property reform: How cutting red tape and better management could achieve billionsin 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

Title of hearing, xxx Cong. (Year). URL

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-loan-program-for-borrowers

Unenacted federal bill or resolution

Title [if relevant], H.R. or S. bill number, xxx Cong. (Year). URL

Title [if relevant], H.R. or S. Res. resolution number, xxx Cong. (Year). URL

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

Enacted simple or concurrent federal resolution

S. Res. xxx, xxx Cong., Volume Cong. Rec. Page (Year) (enacted). URL

H.R. Res. xxx, xxx Cong., Volume Cong. Rec. Page (Year) (enacted). URL

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

S. Rep. No. xxx-xxx (Year). URL

H.R. Rep. No. xxx-xxx (Year). URL

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

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!

Administrative and executive materials include rules and regulations, advisory opinions, and executive orders.

Federal regulation, codified

Title or Number, Volume C.F.R. § xxx (Year). URL

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

Title or Number, Volume F.R. Page (proposed Month Day, Year) (to be codified at Volume C.F.R. § xxx). URL

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. xxxx, 3 C.F.R. Page (Year). URL

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

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries.

Patent references look similar to regular APA citations.

Patent

Inventor, A.A. (Year Patent Issued). Title of patent (U.S. Patent No. x,xxx,xxx). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. URL

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

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!

To cite the whole constitution, a citation is not necessary.  Simply refer to the constitution in text. 

The U.S. Constitution has 26 amendments.

The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in 1780.

Article of the U.S. Constitution

U.S. Const. art. xxx, § x.

U.S. Const. art. I, § 3.

Article of a state constitution

State Const. art. xxx, § x.

S.C. Const. art. XI, § 3.

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

U.S. Const. amend. xxx.

U.S. Const. amend. XIX.

Repealed amendment to the U.S. Constitution

U.S. Const. amend. xxx (repealed Year).

U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933).

U.S. Bill of Rights

U.S. Const. amend. 1-X.

Charter of the United Nations

U.N. Charter art. xx, para. xx.

U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3.

Remember to indent the second and following lines of the reference list entry!

References to a treaty or international convention should include the name of the treaty, convention, or other agreement; the signing or approval date; and a URL if available.

• Reference List: Name of Treaty or Convention, Month Day, Year, URL.
• Parenthetical Citation: (Name of Treaty or Convention, Year)
• Narrative Citation: Name of Treaty or Convention (Year)

United Nations Convention

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx