Citations
These fields allow us to add legal citation information to documents, particularly judicial opinions.
The basic format of a case citation is: (volume) (reporter) (page number) – e.g. 372 U.S. 335. A reporter is a publication containing judicial opinions, limited to a set of courts, and it organizes the opinions chronologically. The volume number indicates which volume of the reporter, and the page number indicates the starting page of the opinion. A reporters used to be a series of books – now everything is online, but the old system remains. Periodically, we add new reporters to our system.
Individual opinions can have multiple citations in different reporters, some of which lawyers will prefer to cite over others. We often collect multiple citations for a given opinion, with Citation 1 being the typically most preferred and Citation 3 being the least.
Note: Not all of our reporter abbreviations match Bluebook abbreviations.
citation_status
(string)
The status of the citation information. There are a several possible values for this field:
null
This field has not been set yet. This is likely because the document's metadata is not yet complete.
Don't know
We don't know if this document has a citation.
No citation available
There is no citation for this document, but it is an opinion or order (i.e. a type of document that could have a citation.
Not applicable
The document is not the type of document that can have a citation (i.e. it is not an opinion or order).
Not checked yet
We have not checked for a citation yet.
Official citation found/coded
We found an official citation (i.e. not Westlaw or Lexis) and have updated the appropriate fields.
S.Ct. - check later for U.S.
The document has a citation for the Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.) but was too recent to have a citation for the U.S. Reports (U.S.) when we last checked.
WL/LEXIS cite: Check later for official citation
The document has a Westlaw or Lexis citation but was too recent to have an official citation when we last checked.
WL/LEXIS only: No official citation available
The document has a Westlaw or Lexis citation but does not have an official citation.
For more information on the various reporters, see below.
cite_1_vol
(number)
The volume number for Citation 1. If there is no citation for Citation 1, this field is null.
cite_1_reporter
(string)
The reporter for Citation 1. If there is no citation for Citation 1, this field is null.
Citation 1 is for our preferred reporters, which include several types of reporters:
U.S. Reports
U.S.
Reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court
Federal Reporter
F.
F.2d
Reporter for the federal circuit courts
Federal Supplement
F.Supp.
F.Supp.2d
Reporter for the federal district courts, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
Federal Appendix
Fed.Appx.
Reporter for circuit opinions that are "unpublished"
Regional Reporters
N.W.
A.
West's reporters for state courts
State Court Reporters
Mich.
Mass
Individual states' reporters for their courts
cite_1_page
(number)
The page number for Citation 1. If there is no citation for Citation 1, this field is null.
cite_2_vol
(number)
The volume number for Citation 2. For Westlaw citations, the volume is the year of the opinion. If there is no citation for Citation 2, this field is null.
cite_2_reporter
(string)
The reporter for Citation 2. If there is no citation for Citation 2, this field is null.
These are not the most preferred reporters, but many lawyers prefer them to those in Citation 3 (see cite_3_reporter). There are only two options for Citation 2:
S.Ct.
Supreme Court Reporter. Typically publishes recent opinions faster than the U.S. Reports.
WL
Westlaw. A commercial electronic database that contains many judicial opinions, among other things.
cite_2_page
(number)
The page number for Citation 2. If there is no citation for Citation 2, this field is null.
cite_3_vol
(number)
The volume number for Citation 3. For Lexis citations, the volume is the year of the opinion. If there is no citation for Citation 3, this field is null.
cite_3_reporter
(string)
The reporter for Citation 3. If there is no citation for Citation 3, this field is null.
These are the reporters we prefer not to use (and don't often collect). There are two types of reporters for Citation 3:
U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition
L.Ed.
Reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court
Lexis
U.S.Dist.LEXIS
U.S.App.LEXIS
LexisNexis. A commercial electronic database that contains many judicial opinions, among other things.
cite_3_page
(number)
The page number for Citation 3. If there is no citation for Citation 3, this field is null.
per_curiam
(boolean)
If the opinion was issued per curiam, which is Latin for "for the court." This means that the opinion wasn't authored by an individual judge.
citation_paren
(string)
Information following a citation giving the reader extra information about its context. We rarely use them, so citation_paren is often null.
Here are the other options:
aff'd by an equally divided court
The opinion was affirmed by the the U.S. Supreme Court through a tie vote without an opinion on the substance of the case.
aff'd per curiam
The opinion was affirmed by a per curiam opinion, where the opinion wasn't authored by an individual judge.
amicus motion denied
A motion to file an amicus brief was denied. An amicus curiae, Latin for "friend of the court," is a person or entity who is not a party to the case but asks the court for permission to advise the court on some aspect of the case.
amicus motion granted
A motion to file an amicus brief was granted. An amicus curiae, Latin for "friend of the court," is a person or entity who is not a party to the case but asks the court for permission to advise the court on some aspect of the case.
appeal dismissed
The appeal of the decision was dismissed.
cert. denied
A higher court (typically the U.S. Supreme Court) rejected a request to review the lower court decision, known as a petition for writ of certiorari.
cert. dismissed
A higher court (typically the U.S. Supreme Court) granted a request to review the lower court decision (a petition for writ of certiorari) but then later decided to reverse its decision – dismissing the grant of certiorari.
cert. granted
A higher court (typically the U.S. Supreme Court) granted a request to review the lower court decision, known as a petition for writ of certiorari.
consolidation denied
A request to consolidate similar cases was denied.
counsel appointment request granted
A request to appoint counsel was granted.
en banc
The case was heard by all of the judges of a particular court (as opposed to a panel with only some of the judges). En banc is French for "on the bench."
inviting Solicitor General to file brief
The U.S. Supreme Court invited the solicitor general to file a brief expressing the views of the U.S. in a case where a party petitioned for certiorari – a procedure known as "Call for the Views of the Solicitor General" (CVSG).
joint appendix -- granting OR denying motion
Relevant legal documents submitted to support a petition for writ of certiorari.
mandamus denied
The court denied a writ of mandamus, which is a court order (usually from an appellate court) requiring a government official or entity to do their public duty (that they have neglected or refused to do).
merits opinion
The opinion analyzes the substantive law of the case, rather than addressing only procedural matters.
motion to dismiss cert. denied
A higher court (typically the U.S. Supreme Court) denied a request to reverse a previously granted a writ of certiorari. (See "cert. dismissed" above.)
opinion respecting the denial of cert.
An opinion denying a writ of certiorari where the justice felt so strongly that they chose to write a separate opinion.
oral argument motion granted OR denied
An oral argument motion was granted or denied. Oral argument is when lawyers speak in front of the judge(s), with the judge(s) interrupting to ask questions.
prob. juris. decision deferred
When appealing a decision, the question of whether the higher court (typically the U.S. Supreme Court) has probable jurisdiction over the appeal has been postponed to the hearing on the merits.
prob. juris. noted
When appealing a decision, the higher court (typically the U.S. Supreme Court) has noted that it has probable jurisdiction over the appeal.
reh'g denied
A request for a rehearing of the case was denied.
reh'g granted
A request for a rehearing of the case was granted.
requesting briefing
The court requested that the parties submit written arguments ("briefs") to the court. This practice is known as "briefing."
rev'd per curiam
The opinion was reversed by a per curiam opinion, where the opinion wasn't authored by an individual judge.
stay denied
A request for a pause ("stay") of enforcement of the judgment was denied.
stay granted
A request for a pause ("stay") of enforcement of the judgment was granted.
stay vacated
The court set aside ("vacated") a pause ("stay") of enforcement of the judgment.
stay vacatur denied
A request to remove a stay of enforcement of the judgment was denied. ("Vacatur" is Latin for "it is vacated.")
summarily affirmed (without opinion)
The opinion was affirmed by a higher court without the higher court hearing further argument (and without issuing an opinion).
summarily reversed (without opinion)
The opinion was reversed by a higher court without the higher court hearing further argument (and without issuing an opinion).
table
The decision was a very short order summarily affirming a lower court opinion published in a table in a reporter. Federal courts of appeals no longer do this.
vacated and remanded
On appeal, a higher court set aside ("vacated") the decision and asked the lower court to redo their decision in light of some guidance provided by the higher court ("remanded" the decision).
vacated as moot
The decision was set aside because the dispute had been resolved in some other way. When a dispute is no longer "live," it becomes "moot."
Last updated