JoanShear | 27 April, 2006 16:25
Question:
I can’t find U.S. Reports volumes that have these two cases in them which I need to find pinpoint cites, and I have the U.S. Reports citations.
Answer:
There is something of a time delay in the publication of the official United States Reports, and frequently cases have U.S. cites even though the preliminary print has not been produced yet. The Bluebook requires a cite to cases in these reporters in the following order of preference – United States Reports [which has a time delay of approximately a year], West’s Supreme Court Reporter [which has a time delay of approximately month, although the case itself is usually available on Westlaw without pagination on day of release], and U.S. Law Week [which is received in the library within the week a decision is issued and is usually available with pagination on the day of release]. These cases were slightly more than a year old, so the preliminary prints of the U.S. Reports which contained those cases were located in the library stacks.
The reference librarian noticed that the patron was holding a number of volumes of Lawyers’ Edition U. S. Reports, which prompted the following review on the various versions of Supreme Court cases.
The official "United States Reports," full title, "United States reports. Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court," is published by the U.S. government and is abbreviated "U.S." There are two major commercial reporters that also publish the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court: Thomson/West and LexisNexis. West's publication is called "Supreme Court Reporter," or "West's Supreme Court Reporter," and is abbreviated "S. Ct." LexisNexis's publication is called, "U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition," which is known by its shorter name, "Lawyers' Edition" and is abbreviated "L. Ed." Practitioners usually use one of the unofficial reporters for their superior research potential or their greater economy or both. On the other hand, law reviews require the use the official if it is available. "U.S. Law Week" is a BNA publication that is primarily a current awareness service. BC subscribes to this electronically as well as in paper. Cites to Law Week should be converted to one of the more permanent reporters as soon as those cites are available.
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