How to cite a session law

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B12.1.2 / R12.4 · Statutes & legislation

An act as passed, before or instead of codification.

Example

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, Pub. L. No. 87-195, 75 Stat. 424.

More examples

Each of these is checked against the rules on every change to the tool.

• National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Pub. L. No. 91-190, § 102, 83 Stat. 852, 853–54 (1970).
• Labor-Management Relations Act, ch. 120, sec. 101, § 8(a)(3), 61 Stat. 136, 140–41 (1947).
• Securities Act of 1933, ch. 38, 48 Stat. 74 (codified as amended at 15 U.S.C. §§ 77a–77aa).
• Law of June 1, 1895, ch. 4322, § 23, 1895 Fla. Laws 3, 20–21 (repealed 1969).
• Act of Jan. 24, 1923, ch. 42, 42 Stat. 1174, 1208, repealed by, Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, ch. 946, § 301(97), 64 Stat. 832, 844.

What the citation needs

Required

• Act name — The source’s name, as the rule for this type gives it.
• Volume — The volume number, which comes before the reporter, code or periodical name.
• Session laws — R12.4: “Stat.” federally; state session laws per T1.3.
• First page — The page the source begins on. The page you are citing goes in the pincite.

When they apply

• Status — Whether the act is still in force. A repealed or amended act says so (R12.7): pick one and the fields it needs come forward.
• Public Law number — The public law number, as it appears on the source.
• Chapter number (pre-1957) — The chapter number.
• Act number (state) — The act number, as it appears on the source.
• Section of the act — The section of the act, as it appears on the source.
• Pincite — The exact page (or section, or paragraph) your point is on — not the first page. R1.2(f): pincites are required except after “see generally”.
• Section cited — The section cited (R3.3).
• Subsection within that section — The subsection within that section, as it appears on the source.
• Year — The year that goes in the date parenthetical at the end of the citation.
• Publisher — The publisher (R15.4).
• Codification parenthetical — R12.4(e): where the act is now codified.
• Explanatory parenthetical — An explanatory parenthetical: what the source says or holds, in a phrase (R1.5).
• Year repealed — The year the statute was repealed, given in parentheses: “(repealed 1969)” (R12.7.2).
• Year amended — The year the statute was amended, given in parentheses: “(amended 1959)” (R12.7.3).
• Current version at — Where the statute’s current version is codified: “(current version at 15 U.S.C. § 18)” (R12.7.3).
• Later citation — The later citation, as it appears on the source.
• Repealing / amending statute, or invalidating case — R12.7: cited in full; a case for an invalidated statute (R12.7.1).

In a brief and in a law review

The Bluebook sets citations two ways: the Bluepages for court documents and legal memoranda, the Whitepages for law review footnotes. Here is the first example above as each one prints it, in its typeface.

Court documents (Bluepages)

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, Pub. L. No. 87-195, 75 Stat. 424.

Law review footnotes (Whitepages)

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, Pub. L. No. 87-195, 75 Stat. 424.

For this source the two are set the same way.

Common mistakes

Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.

Governing rules

B12.1.2 / R12.4

• 12 — statutes.
• 12.4 — session laws.
• 12.4(a) — name & public law/chapter number.
• 12.4(b) — volume & session-law abbreviation.
• 12.4(c) — pages and sections.

Build this citation with the generator, check one you have already written, or paste a whole list of footnotes to check them in order.

Related source types

Statutes & legislation:

• Statute (code)
• Bill or resolution
• Hearing
• Committee report
• Committee print
• Legislative journal
• Legislative debate
• Constitution
• Municipal ordinance
• Procedural / evidentiary rule
• Model / uniform act, restatement