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APA Style: Legal References

Legal References

In APA Style, most legal materials are cited in the standard legal citation style used for legal references across all disciplines.

See Chapter 11 of APA 7th ed for more information 

Legal References

Cases or Court Decisions

  • title or name of the case, (usually one party versus another)
  • citation--this consists of the volume and page in one of the legal sets of books that contain cases, usually called reporters
  • precise jurisdiction of the court writing the decision (for example, Supreme Court, or Texas Court of Appeals), in parentheses.
  • Date of the decision--in parentheses (year only)
  • URL  from which you retrieved the case information (optional, this is not strictly required for legal citations but may aid readers in retrieval)

Statutes (Laws & Acts)

  • Name of the Act
  • Title Source
  • Section Number
  • Year
  • URL

Consult the Blue Book or further information on how to cite state statutes

,Legislative Materials

  • Federal Testimony--Title of testimony, xxx Cong (Year) (testimony of Testifier Name)  URL
  • Full Federal Hearing--Title of Hearing, xxx Cong. (Year) URL
  • Unenacted federal bill or resolution--Title [if relevant], H.R. or S.bill number, xxx Cong. (Year) URL

 

Administrative and Executive Materials

  • Federal regulation, codified--Title or Number, Volume C.F.R.  xxx (Year). URL