MANUAL OF STYLE FOR JUDICIAL OPINIONSTable of Contents
4. List of Exceptions from Bluebook System of Citation
This manual is for the use of judges, secretaries, and law clerks in preparing opinions. It is divided into four sections: (1) opinion form, (2) the system of citations, (3) style, and (4) a summary of the exceptions from the Bluebook system of citations. An opinion should first state the title (giving the names of the parties and their trial and appellate court designations) and the dates the matter was argued (or submitted) and decided. In trial court opinions, only the date the case was decided is necessary. Next, in the case of appeals only, the opinion should list the court from which the appeal is taken and a citation to the opinion below if it was reported. Next appears the listing of the attorneys who participated. Where one attorney argued the cause, but other attorneys were of record, of counsel, on the brief, etc., the listing of the latter should appear in parentheses. All titles, such as Messrs., Mr. and Ms., should be eliminated from the designation of the parties' legal representatives, except that if the same attorney who argued the appeal is also of counsel or on the brief, the second reference to that attorney should be Mr. or Ms. followed by the attorney's last name. Thus, in appellate opinions, the appearances should follow this style: John R. Brown argued the cause for respondent (Brown & Jones, attorneys; James Roche, of counsel; Mr. Brown and Thomas Smith, on the brief). However, in trial court opinions, the proper style of appearances is: John R. Brown for plaintiff (Brown & Jones, attorneys). At the beginning of the opinion, insert the last name of the judge who authored the opinion, followed by the abbreviation J.A.D., J.S.C., etc. (see Rule 1:37-3 for abbreviations). If a judge is temporarily assigned to the court, the abbreviation of his or her permanent office should be followed by: (temporarily assigned). Retired judges recalled and assigned pursuant to N.J.S.A. 43:6A-13 should use their permanent title at the time of retirement followed by: (retired and temporarily assigned on recall). The prefatory language, "The opinion of the court was delivered by," should be used in the case of signed appellate opinions but not in trial court opinions. In unsigned opinions, the language should be "PER CURIAM." In preparing opinions judges should generally follow the system of citations contained in the seventeenth edition of A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association (hereinafter referred to as the Bluebook). However, that system is subject to the limited exceptions set forth in this manual. This section provides an easy reference to the most frequently used forms of citation in the Bluebook and indicates the limited exceptions that should be used in opinions of the New Jersey courts. To facilitate the use of this manual, the authorized exceptions from the Bluebook system of citation are listed on pages 23 and 24. A. Introductory Signals and the Structure of Citations Signals indicating the degree of support the citations give introduce citations. Rule 1.2 of the Bluebook describes the appropriate form of introductory signals and when they should be used. Rule 1.3 details the order of signals and Rule 1.4 describes the order of authorities within each signal. Additional information about an authority may be given parenthetically (Rule 1.5). B. Case Names Case names in the text should conform to Rule 10.2.1 of the Bluebook and in citations should conform to Rules 10.2, and 10.2.2. Those sections indicate that the only names required in case citations are the surname or corporate name of the first-listed party on each side as it appears at the beginning of the opinion in the official reporter. Omit words indicating multiple parties, such as "et al." In long case names, omit words not necessary for identification. Abbreviate "in the matter of," "petition of," and similar expressions to "In re." In citations, abbreviate the words set forth in Rule 10.2.2 and Section T.6 of the Bluebook. Other words of eight letters or more also may be abbreviated if substantial space is thereby saved and the result is unambiguous. You are cautioned not to rely on the running heads prepared by the publishers of the reporters for proper abbreviations because they often fail to follow the Bluebook's requirements. Case names in the text should conform to Rule 10.2.1 of the Bluebook and in citations should conform to Rules 10.2, and 10.2.2. Those sections indicate that the only names required in case citations are the surname or corporate name of the first-listed party on each side as it appears at the beginning of the opinion in the official reporter. Omit words indicating multiple parties, such as "et al." In long case names, omit words not necessary for identification. Abbreviate "in the matter of," "petition of," and similar expressions to "In re." In citations, abbreviate the words set forth in Rule 10.2.2 and Section T.6 of the Bluebook except when they are the first word of a party's name. Other words of eight letters or more also may be abbreviated if substantial space is thereby saved and the result is unambiguous. You are cautioned not to rely on the running heads prepared by the publishers of the reporters for proper abbreviations because they often fail to follow the Bluebook's requirements. C. Reporters A reported decision of a New Jersey court should be cited solely to the New Jersey reporter. To add the Atlantic Reporter citation is unnecessary because West Publishing Company will add it automatically if the opinion is reported. The following examples correctly cite New Jersey cases:
In addition, "C.P." should be used for the former Common Pleas Court, "Cir. Ct." for the former Circuit Court, "Cty. Dist. Ct." for the former County District Court, and "J. & D.R. Ct." for the former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. A citation to a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States should be made to the official United States Reports, the Supreme Court Reporter, and the Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition. Pinpoint cites to the Lawyers Edition may be omitted if not available. Thus, the correct form of the initial citation to the Miranda decision would be Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966). Except when citing to decisions of the New Jersey courts, the reporter, court, and date of decision should be cited in conformity with Rules 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 and table T.1 of the Bluebook, except that abbreviations for reporter names should be underlined. If a state court decision is published in a regional reporter, such as Atlantic or Pacific, the citation should be solely to that reporter. But if a decision of a state court is not published in a regional reporter, it should be cited to the other sources indicated in table T.1 of the Bluebook. Do not use public domain format citations. The reporter citations generally should be followed by parentheses giving the full abbreviated name of the court, the jurisdiction, and the year of decision. However, the name of the court should be omitted from the parentheses if it is the state's highest court. In addition, the name of the state or of a court other than the state's highest court should be omitted if unambiguously conveyed by the reporter title or in the text immediately preceding or following the citation. The following examples correctly cite the decisions of federal and other state courts:
A citation to a decision of a state administrative agency reported in the New Jersey Administrative Reports, which contains state-agency decisions issued through 1990, should be cited:
The parentheses following the volume and page of the administrative reports should set forth the name of the agency issuing the decision and the date of the final agency decision. There is no need to give the date of the Administrative Law Judge's initial decision, unless the final agency decision appears in a different place from the initial decision of the Administrative Law Judge. In that event both decisions should be cited with each citation bearing the date of that decision, subject to Rule 10.5(c) of the Bluebook. A citation to a decision of a state administrative agency reported in the New Jersey Administrative Reports Second, which contains state-agency decisions issued in 1991 and following years, should be cited:
This is a set of loose-leaf binders with separate pagination for each state agency by year. The number preceding N.J.A.R.2d refers to the year the final agency decision was rendered. The parentheses following N.J.A.R.2d indicates the volume of the full set service in which the opinion may be found, and the number following this parentheses is the cited page of the reports of the particular agency indicated by the second parentheses. However, the New Jersey Administrative Reports ceased publication after the end of June 1997. Agency decisions after that date should be cited to Westlaw if they are published there, in the following format:
If the decision is not available on Westlaw, cite to the Rutgers Law School website if it is there, in the following format:
If the decision is not published at either Westlaw or the Rutgers website, give the name of the case, docket number if there is one (otherwise the name of the agency), whether the case is a final or initial decision, and the date:
Note, however, that unpublished administrative opinions, like unpublished judicial opinions, may be cited only in the limited circumstances set forth in R. 1:36-3. D. Special Citation Forms for Opinions Opinions of New Jersey courts that have been approved for publication but do not yet appear in the advance sheets should be cited: State v. Smith, ___ N.J. ___, ___ (1991) (slip op. at 7). Initial citations to opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States that have not yet been reported in the United States Reports should be cited to both the Supreme Court and Lawyers Edition reporters: McCain v. Lybrand, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S. Ct. 1037, 79 L. Ed. 2d 271 (1984). Pinpoint cites to the Lawyers Edition may be omitted if not available. Opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States that have not yet been published in either the Lawyers Edition or Supreme Court reporters should be cited to United States Law Week: Smith v. Forbush, 60 U.S.L.W. 4420, 4421 (U.S. Feb. 4, 1992). In those limited circumstances in which it may be appropriate to cite an unpublished opinion, see Rule 1:36-3, the appropriate form of citation would be State v. Wilson, No. A-4605-91 (App. Div. July 2, 1991) (slip op. at 7). E. Prior and Subsequent History Whenever a decision is cited in full, give the entire subsequent history of the case, including dispositions in the United States Supreme Court. Do not omit discretionary dispositions in higher courts (such as certiorari denied in the United States Supreme Court), but omit the history on remand or any denial of a rehearing unless relevant to the point for which the case is cited. Give prior history only if significant to the point for which the case is cited or if the disposition cited does not intelligibly describe the issues in the case, as in a Supreme Court disposition without full opinion. The prior or subsequent history of a case is appended to the primary citation and is introduced and explained by underscored words, which are generally set off by commas, between the citations. For example:
However, phrases that are followed by a case citation as their direct object are not followed by a comma:
The following is a partial list of abbreviations for explanations of prior or subsequent case history: "aff'd," for "affirmed"; "aff'g" for "affirming"; "aff'd o.b.," for "affirmed on opinion below"; "rev'd," for "reversed"; "rev'd on dissent," for "reversed on the basis of dissent"; "rev'g" for "reversing"; "certif. denied," for "certification denied"; and "cert. denied," for "certiorari denied." When citing a case with several different decisions in the same year, include the year only with the last cited decision in that year:
F. Citations of Constitutions, Statutes and Rules The present New Jersey Constitution should be cited as N.J. Const. art. IV, § 7, ¶ 2. Citations to the pre-1947 Constitutions should indicate the year of adoption: N.J. Const. of 1844 art. IV, § 1, ¶ 3. The United States Constitution should be cited as U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 2, and amendments should be cited as U.S. Const. amend. XIV, ¶ 2. New Jersey statutes should be cited as N.J.S.A. (not R.S. or N.J.S.), followed by the applicable sections. Pamphlet laws should be cited as L. 1961, c. 5, § 1. Federal statutes should be cited as 5 U.S.C.A. § 352. Citations to federal, New Jersey, or other state statutes that do not appear in U.S.C.A. or N.J.S.A. should be in the form set forth in Rule 12 and in the lists contained in Section T.1 of the Bluebook. When citing to an entire act, the proper form is N.J.S.A. 17:10-1 to -26. Rules effective on or after September 8, 1969, should be cited as R.; those effective between September 1953 and September 7, 1969, should be cited as R.R. A comment in the annotated Rules should be cited as Pressler, Current N.J. Court Rules, comment 2 on R. 2:3-2 (2004). Appendices to the New Jersey Court Rules should be cited as Child Support Guidelines, Pressler, Current New Jersey Court Rules, Appendix IXA to R. 5:6A at 2368 (2004). As of July 1, 1993, the Rules of Evidence should be cited as N.J.R.E. 803(a)(1). (The 1967 rules are cited as Evid. R. 63(1)(a).) A comment in the annotated Rules of Evidence should be cited as Biunno, Current N.J. Rules of Evidence, comment 1 on N.J.R.E. 803(a)(1) (2003). A comment in the annotated Code of Criminal Justice should be cited as Cannel, New Jersey Criminal Code Annotated, comment 11 on N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3 (2003). Cite the New Jersey Administrative Code as N.J.A.C. 12:18-2.27 and the New Jersey Register as 12 N.J.R. 394 (July 10, 1980). Cite a regulation in the Code of Federal Regulations as FTC Credit Practices Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 444 (1999). G. Citations of Treatises, law reviews, and Other Materials Cite treatises, books, and other nonperiodic materials by volume, if more than one (Rule 3.2); author or editor (Rule 15.1); title (Rule 15.2); serial number, if any (Rule 15.3); page, section, or paragraph, if only part of a volume is cited (Rules 3.3 and 3.4); and edition, if more than one has appeared; publisher, if not the original one; and date (Rule 15.4). Generally, the author's full name as it appears on the publication should be given the first time a work is cited, including any designation such as "Jr." or "III." Do not abbreviate a middle name (or names) to a middle initial unless the author does so. If a work has more than two authors, use the first author's name followed by "et al." For example:
Reynolds Robertson & Francis R. Kirkham, Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States § 445 (Richard F. Wolfson & Phillip B. Kurland eds., 2d ed. 1951).
However, in citing standard treatises that are commonly referred to in a shortened form, the first name and initials of the author may be omitted and the title of the book abbreviated. For example:
Cite law review articles by author, title of work, volume number, periodical name, first page of the work and page or pages on which specific material appears, and date enclosed in parentheses at the end of the citation. The author's full name should be supplied in the same form as in a citation to a book or treatise. For example:
Signed and titled student notes and comments should be cited in the same manner as any other signed article in a law review, except that the designation of the piece should appear before the title of the work to indicate it is student-written. For example:
Cite unsigned notes, comments and shorter commentary by the designation as given by the periodical, such as "Note," "Comment." For example:
The New Jersey Practice series should be cited as 6 New Jersey Practice, Wills and Administration § 661, at 241 (Alfred C. Clapp & Dorothy G. Black) (rev. 3d ed. 1984). Restatements should be cited as Restatement (Second) of Agency § 20 (1957), and comments in a Restatement should be cited as Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws § 305 comment b, illustration 1 (1969). If a Restatement contains a subtitle, retain the subtitle in the citation, as in: Restatement (Third) of Property: Donative Transfers § 2 (Tentative Draft No. 1, 1995). The style for annotations is: Andrea Levinson Ben-Yosef, Annotation, Hog Breeding, Confining, or Processing Facility as Constituting Nuisance, 93 A.L.R.5th 621 (2001). Encyclopedias should be cited as 89 C.J.S. Trusts § 146 (1955); 17A Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74 (1991). Dictionaries should be cited: Ballentine's Law Dictionary 1190 (3d ed. 1969); Black's Law Dictionary 712 (7th ed. 1999). When an authority has been fully cited previously, the "supra" form may be used for subsequent citations (unless "id." or "ibid." is appropriate). Thus, the proper form of a subsequent citation to the Miranda case would be Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. at 478, 86 S. Ct. at 1630, 16 L. Ed. 2d at 726. A case that has already been cited in full in the same general discussion also may be shortened to any of the following forms that clearly identifies the case:
But note that in accordance to the exception at page 5 of this manual, pinpoint cites to the Lawyers Edition may be omitted if not available. When citing to a treatise or law review article, the "supra" form consists of the last name(s) of the author or authors of the work, or when there is no author, the title of the article, followed by a comma and the word "supra." For example:
"Id." may be used to cite to the immediately preceding authority. Thus, if there is a citation to Chagen v. Spector, 233 A.2d 562 (Pa. 1967), and the next citation is to that same opinion, it should be cited as: Id. at 563. "Ibid." should be used to indicate the same source at the same page as the immediately preceding authority. Where the principle for which a case or other source is cited is stated on a particular page or pages, the relevant page or pages should always be indicated as follows: State v. Jarbath, 114 N.J. 394, 404 (1989); Sisler v. Gannett Co., 104 N.J. 256, 280-81 (1986). Always retain the last two digits but drop other repetitious digits: Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 195-96, 82 S. Ct. 691, 698-99, 7 L. Ed. 2d 663, 672-73 (1962). Cite nonconsecutive pages by giving the individual page numbers separated by commas: Township of Wayne v. Ricmin, Inc., 124 N.J. Super. 509, 514, 517 (App. Div. 1973). To cite a footnote, give the page on which the footnote appears, "n." and the footnote number: Abbott v. Burke, 119 N.J. 287, 370 n.34 (1990). J. Underscoring Case names, introductory signals, such as e.g. and see, words or phrases used to introduce prior or subsequent case histories, the names of court reporters, statutes, constitutions, rules, law reviews, and restatements, and supra, id., and ibid. should be underscored. 3. STYLE A. Quotations A brief quotation of fewer than fifty words generally should be included in the regular text. Longer quotations generally should be indented ten spaces from side margins and single spaced. Quotation marks should not be used with an indented quote. In the case of omissions in indented quotes, use three periods ( . . . ). Ellipses are always set off by a space before the first and after the last period. An ellipsis is never correct at the beginning of a quotation or at the end of a quotation if it ends with a complete sentence. If one or more entire paragraphs are eliminated, indent and insert four periods (. . . .) on a new line. Do not insert ellipses for an omitted footnote or citation; indicate such an omission by the parenthetical phrase (footnote omitted) or (citation omitted) immediately following the citation to the quoted source. Rules 5.3 and 5.4. If language at the beginning of an original sentence is omitted, do not use an ellipsis. Instead, capitalize the first letter and place it in brackets if it is not already capitalized. Thus: "[C]ompulsory process must be available for the production of evidence needed by either the prosecution or the defense." Rule 5.3. But if language at the end of a sentence in a non-indented quote is eliminated, the writer should use ellipses between the last word quoted and the final punctuation: "To insure that justice is done, compulsory process must be available . . . ." Remember that the final punctuation must be shown. Thus, the last period in the preceding quote is the period at the end of the sentence, and should appear only one space from the preceding period. Rule 5.3. When the writer adds underscoring within a quote for emphasis, that should be noted by the parenthetical phrase (emphasis added) after the citation. To include "(emphasis in original)" is never correct because only a change in emphasis should be noted. Rule 5.2. To point out an error in a quote, the writer should insert [sic] following the error. Any editing inside a quotation should appear in brackets. Rule 5.2. A citation to the source of an indented quotation should be placed in brackets immediately below the quotation. For example: There is no requirement that police stop a person who enters a police station and states that he wishes to confess to a crime, or a person who calls the police to offer a confession or any other statement he desires to make. Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by our holding today. [Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 1630, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 726 (1966).] B. Punctuation, Capitals, Foreign Expressions Periods and commas are always placed inside quotation marks. A colon, semicolon, question mark, or exclamation point should be placed inside the quotation marks if it is part of the quoted material; otherwise, it is outside the ending quotation mark. Where no date is indicated, a comma should not separate the month from the year, e.g., "March 1955." (Do not write "March of 1955.") Where a date is indicated, it should be written as a numeral, not an ordinal, i.e., "March 15, 1955," not "March 15th, 1955." Where a date is indicated mid-sentence, a comma must follow the date. Numbers zero through ninety-nine should be spelled out; figures should be used for any number over ninety-nine. However, where there is a series of numbers in the same sentence, some under and some over ninety-nine, all are to be put in figures. A sum of money should be written as "$50," not "$50." or "$50.00." Avoid unnecessary capitals. Do not follow the special rules on capitalization applicable to court documents and legal memoranda found in section P.6 of the Bluebook. Capitalize nouns referring to people or groups only when they identify specific persons, officials, groups, government offices, or government bodies:
But:
Capitalize "Court" only when naming a court in full or when referring to the Supreme Court of the United States or Supreme Court of New Jersey. "State" should be capitalized if it is part of the full title of a state, if the word it modifies is capitalized, or when referring to a state as a governmental actor or party to litigation:
Capitalize constitutional amendments in a narrative text -- e.g., Defendant relies on his Fifth Amendment rights as well as the Fourteenth Amendment. Do not capitalize "a.m." or "p.m." Use of Latin expressions like "inter alia" and "sub judice" should be avoided because English equivalents are readily available (for example, "among other things"; "the present case"). Words not commonly used as part of the English language should be underlined. 4. LIST OF EXCEPTIONS FROM BLUEBOOK SYSTEM OF CITATION 1. A citation to a decision of a New Jersey court should be solely to the New Jersey Reports. 2. An initial citation to a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States should be made to the official United States Reports, the Supreme Court Reporter, and the Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition. Pinpoint cites to the Lawyers Edition may be omitted if not available. 3. Citations to New Jersey statutes should be solely to the New Jersey Statutes Annotated, without a date. Citations to federal statutes should be solely to the United States Code Annotated, without a date. 4. An abbreviated form of citation may be used in citing standard treatises that are commonly known in a shortened form. 5. The "supra" short form of citation may be used for repeat citations of cases as well as other authorities. 6. "Court" should be capitalized when referring to the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 7. The names of reporters, statutes, constitutions, rules, law reviews, and restatements should be underscored. 8. "Ibid." should be used to indicate the same source at the same page as the immediately preceding authority. 9. A citation to the source of an indented quotation should be placed in brackets immediately below the quotation. 10. If a case is found in a regional reporter, use only that cite, not a cite to an official reporter or a public domain (or media neutral) cite. If a case is not in a regional reporter, then use the sources in table T.1 of the Bluebook, but do not use public domain format citations. 11. Whenever a case is cited in full, always include the entire subsequent history (except remands and denials of rehearing, unless relevant to the point cited); always include any discretionary dispositions of higher courts (such as certiorari or certification denied). |
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