Court opinions
How to cite a California Supreme Court opinion
Cite a decision of the California Supreme Court with the case name, the reporter citation, and a parenthetical that gives the year, adding the state’s abbreviation when the reporter is a regional one.
The examples below use Cal.3d, P.2d and Cal. 3d.
The book’s Table A lists California’s courts, reporters and citation rules.
3 real examples
Each citation is printed as the book prints it, from an authority the book checked against its source.
(People v. Kelly (1976) 17 Cal.3d 24, 30.)
- Case name
- People v. Kelly
- Volume, reporter and first page
- 17 Cal.3d 24
- Pinpoint
- 30
The authority
- People v. Kelly (Cal., May 28, 1976)Copy (static.case.law)Find it on CourtListener
Where the book teaches this
Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 551 P.2d 334 (Cal. 1976).
- Case name
- Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal.
- Volume, reporter and first page
- 551 P.2d 334
- Court and date
- (Cal. 1976)
The authority
- Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal. (Cal., July 1, 1976)Copy (courtlistener.com)
Where the book teaches this
Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 17 Cal. 3d 425 (1976).
- Case name
- Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal.
- Volume, reporter and first page
- 17 Cal. 3d 425
- Year
- (1976)
The authority
- Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal. (Cal., July 1, 1976)Copy (courtlistener.com)
Where the book teaches this
Where the book teaches this
The full rule, its exceptions and the reasons for it are in these sections.