Legal citations are written in their own special format to maintain consistent access. The citation will vary in its elements depending on the jurisdiction, court and source. You need to be able to decipher the "code" to find the text you need as well as write proper citations for your paper.
If the information is retrieved from a court site, such as SCOTUSblog, a database such as WestLaw, or a lower court site or court reporter, this can have some impact on how to format the citation. Your reader must know exactly where the information you are using came from as well as you being able to see where to look at cited material.
NOTE: In-text citations are inserted immediately following the quote or paraphrase. Note the page(s) the quote or paraphrase came from with , at pagenumber as shown in the example below. Each cited source will also have a reference entry that provides all the information necessary to find the document cited. Reference entries are in alphabetical order.
NOTE: The short form citation (McKinney v. State of Arizona, 2019) could refer to many different briefs and cases. If you have a number of citations that will have the same short form, when one is first used, it is recommended to add the full date of the brief when submitted or a short title.
Case Files
In-text citation (within parentheses and used for either direct quotes or paraphrasing): Party Name v. Party Name, year
(McKinney v. Arizona, 2019)
In-text citation with page number of quote
(McKinney v. Arizona, 2019, at 10)
Reference entry: Case Name (case number). Source. Retrieved at [URL]
McKinney v. Arizona (18-1109). SCOTUSblog. Retrieved at https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/mckinney-v-arizona/
Briefs
In-text citation
(McKinney v. Arizona, 2019)
In-text citation with page number of quote
(McKinney v. Arizona, 2019, at 10)
If there are multiple short form citations you might use;
(National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, McKinney v. Arizona, 2019)
(The Advocates for Human Rights and The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, McKinney v. Arizona, 2019)
(Arizona Capital Representation Project, McKinney v. Arizona, 2019)
Reference entry from SCOTUS (format in hanging indent style in your reference list)
Amicus Curiae Brief of the Capital Punishment Center of the University of Texas School of Law in Support of the Petitioner, McKinney v. Arizona, SCOTUSblog. Retrieved at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-1109/113904/20190828110902…
Reference entry if retrieved from WestLaw:
McKinney v. State of Arizona, 2019 WL 4192154 (U.S.) (U.S., 2019)
Oral Arguments found at https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/18-1109
In-text citation
(McKinney v. Arizona, 2019)
Reference from Oyez (format in handing indent style in the reference list)
Transcript of Oral Argument, McKinney v. Arizona (18-1109). Oyez. Retrieved at https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/18-1109
More details and examples on citations can be found from a number of sources:
College University of New York