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MLA 8th ed. Style Guide: Legal Sources

This MLA Style Guide has basic examples for citations. For more complex examples, please see the MLA Handbook, 8th edition.

Government Documents

Supreme Court Decision

To cite legal documents,  MLA say to consult The Chicago Manual of Style which refers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Harvard Law Review Association). Names of cases are italicized in the text, but not in bibliographic references.

Reno v. American Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997). Supreme Court of the United States, www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes/521bv.pdf.

Public Law

Refer to The Chicago Manual of Style for guidelines to cite legal materials and laws. Public laws are collected in the annual publication of the United States Statutes at Large (Stat.). 

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Pub. L. No. 111-139, 124 Stat. 8 (2010). Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-124/pdf/STATUTE-124-Pg8.pdf.

United States Code

Conduct During Hoisting, Lowering or Passing of Flag, 4 U.S.C. Sec. 9 (2008). Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title4/html/USCODE-2011-title4-chap1.htm.

Congressional Reports and Documents

The following examples follow the format given in The Chicago Manual of Style:

Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015, S. Rep. No. 114-206 (2015). Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-114srpt206/pdf/CRPT-114srpt206.pdf.

However, MLA Handbook, 8th edition (105) suggests this format. Either format is correct.

United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015. Government Printing Office, 2015. 114th Congress, 2nd session, Senate Report 114-206, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-114srpt206/pdf/CRPT-114srpt206.pdf.