How to Read a Legal
Citation
The U.S. Supreme Court case:
BROWN v BOARD OF EDUCATION
347 U.S. 483 (1954)
- BROWN – is the plaintiff/appellant, the person who began the lawsuit
- BOARD OF EDUCATION – is the defendant/respondent, the party who is being sued
- 347 U.S. 483 – official citation
- 347 – volume number of the court reporter
- U.S. – United States Reports
- 483 – the page or section number
- (1954) – the year the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case
The Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.):
A.R.S. 25-403
- A.R.S. – Arizona Revised Statute
- 25 – Title number 25 (Marital and Domestic Relations)
|
Reporter |
Abbreviation |
Section number § Year |
|
Arizona Revised Statutes |
A.R.S. or Ariz. Rev. Stat |
§ section number (Year) |
|
Arizona Revised Statutes |
Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann |
§ section number (Year) |
|
Annotated |
(West Year) |
|
|
Arizona Revised Statutes |
Ariz. Rev. Stat. |
§ section number (Lexis Year) |
|
Arizona Revised Statutes |
Ariz. Rev. Stat. (online) |
§ section number (Year) |
Statutory codes are arranged by subject that are called Titles and broken down into sections that are numbered under each title containing the laws that are currently in force.
