How to Cite a State Court Case in APA 7

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Have the case's citation from a casebook, a textbook, or a court's website? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search, like Sermchief v. Gonzales, 660 S.W.2d 683 (Mo. 1983). PERRLA reads the case name, the volume, the reporter, the page, the court, and the year. When it finds the case on CourtListener, a free online library of court opinions, it adds the link to the opinion and can add parallel citations from other reporters. Paste the citation with just the regional reporter (P.2d, A.2d, N.E.2d, N.W.2d, S.E.2d, So. 2d, or S.W.2d), because that's the form PERRLA reads.

Then check what it filled in against the opinion: the case name, the year, and every citation. PERRLA doesn't add a state's own reporter, like Cal. 3d or Ill. 2d, so add it with Add Parallel Citation and move it to the top. When that reporter names the court, clear the Deciding Court box.

Adding one by hand? Choose US State Court Cases (under Legal References). Type the case name, then the volume, series, and page under Case Location, and click Add Parallel Citation for each other reporter. Then fill in the deciding court, the year, and the link. Type the court's name or just the state, like Supreme Court of Missouri or California, and PERRLA changes it to the standard abbreviation (Mo., Cal.). Reporter abbreviations get the same cleanup, so SW2d becomes S.W.2d.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Case name

Start with the case name: the first party, v., and the second party. In the reference, it's plain text, not italic. Use only the first named party on each side, and drop first names, "et al.," and a leading "The." The opinion's heading reads "Vitaly Tarasoff et al. v. The Regents of the University of California et al.," and the case name is shorter.

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California,

Write v., never vs. or versus. Cases about one person's guardianship, care, or rights often have no "v." at all: they're named In re ("in the matter of") and the person, as in In re Quinlan.

2. Volume, reporter, and first page

Next comes where the decision is published: the volume number, the reporter's abbreviation, and the page where the case starts. A reporter is a book series that collects court decisions.

17 Cal. 3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334

Many state cases are published in more than one reporter: the state's own official reporter, like California Reports, Third Series (Cal. 3d), and a regional reporter that covers several states, like the Pacific Reporter, Second Series (P.2d). Those are parallel citations. APA asks for every one, separated by commas, with the state's own reporter first. Leave out database numbers like 1976 Cal. LEXIS 297 and A.L.R. annotations: they aren't reporters.

Many states no longer publish their own reporter, so a newer case may have just one citation, in the regional reporter: 660 S.W.2d 683. A very recent decision may not have a page number yet: leave the page blank, and PERRLA prints a blank line (___) in its place, the way courts do.

3. Court

In parentheses, give the abbreviation for the court that decided the case, unless one of your reporters already names it. For a state's highest court, that's the state's abbreviation alone. For a lower court, it's the state and the court, like Cal. Ct. App. for the California Court of Appeal.

(Mo.

A regional reporter like S.W.2d or P.2d covers many states and courts, so a case cited only there always needs the court. A state's own reporter names the court by itself: 17 Cal. 3d holds only Supreme Court of California decisions, and 70 N.J. 10 only Supreme Court of New Jersey decisions. When one of those is in your reference, the parentheses hold only the year.

4. Year

After the court, or alone when a reporter names the court, add the year the court decided the case, close the parentheses, and add a period. Use the year only, not the full date.

(1976).

Use the year of the decision you're citing. Some cases have more than one: the California Supreme Court first decided Tarasoff in 1974, then reheard it and issued the 1976 decision that replaced the first one. The 1976 decision is the one to cite.

5. URL

A link is optional, but it helps your reader find the opinion. Use a free source anyone can open, like CourtListener, Justia, or the court's own website, and don't add a period after it.

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1175611/tarasoff-v-regents-of-university-of-california/

Read the case in Westlaw, Lexis, or Nexis Uni through your library? Leave the link out. Those links only open for people logged in to that service.

Examples

A case in one regional reporter: Sermchief

In Sermchief v. Gonzales, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled in 1983 that the nurses at a family planning clinic were practicing nursing under the state's nursing law, not practicing medicine without a license. Nurse practitioner students cite it in courses on scope of practice. The case is published in just one reporter, the South Western Reporter, Second Series, which covers several states, so the court goes in the parentheses. The student typed the court's full name, Supreme Court of Missouri, and PERRLA wrote Mo.

• Parenthetical citation(Sermchief v. Gonzales, 1983)
• Narrative citationSermchief v. Gonzales (1983)

A case in three reporters: Tarasoff

In 1976, the Supreme Court of California held that a therapist who determines that a patient poses a serious danger of violence to another person has a duty to use reasonable care to protect the intended victim. It's the duty-to-warn case that nursing, psychology, and counseling students meet in ethics courses. It's published in California Reports, the court's own reporter (17 Cal. 3d 425), in the California Reporter (131 Cal. Rptr. 14), and in the Pacific Reporter (551 P.2d 334). The student added all three with Add Parallel Citation and left the court blank, because Cal. 3d already names the court.

• Parenthetical citation(Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 1976)
• Narrative citationTarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (1976)

A case with parallel citations: In re Quinlan

The Supreme Court of New Jersey's 1976 decision on Karen Ann Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state who depended on a respirator, is a cornerstone of end-of-life ethics in nursing. It's reported in the court's official reporter (70 N.J. 10) and in the Atlantic Reporter, Second Series (355 A.2d 647). The student added both with Add Parallel Citation and left the court blank, because N.J. already names the court.

• Parenthetical citation(In re Quinlan, 1976)
• Narrative citationIn re Quinlan (1976)

A state appellate court case: Bouvia

In 1986, the California Court of Appeal ruled that Elizabeth Bouvia, a competent adult patient, had the right to have a nasogastric feeding tube removed that was placed against her will. It's a lower court, not the state's highest. Its decisions are published in California Appellate Reports (Cal. App. 3d), which names the court, and in the California Reporter, so the parentheses hold only the year. The heading of the opinion names "The Superior Court of Los Angeles County," and the case name is cited in its short form, Bouvia v. Superior Court.

• Parenthetical citation(Bouvia v. Superior Court, 1986)
• Narrative citationBouvia v. Superior Court (1986)

A case read in a library database, with no link: Darling

Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital (1965), from the Supreme Court of Illinois, held a hospital liable when a young patient's leg had to be amputated, in part because its nurses didn't check circulation in his casted leg often enough or report the danger. It's a classic in nursing law and leadership courses. It's in Illinois Reports, Second Series (33 Ill. 2d 326), which names the court, and the North Eastern Reporter (211 N.E.2d 253). This student read it in Nexis Uni through the library, so the reference ends after the parentheses, with no link.

• Parenthetical citation(Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital, 1965)
• Narrative citationDarling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital (1965)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a court case gives the case name in italics and the year. The case name is italic in your paper, even though it's plain text in the reference.

• Parenthetical: (Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 1976)
• Narrative: the case name in your sentence, the year in parentheses: In Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (1976), the court held that a therapist's duty of care can extend to the patient's intended victim.
• In re cases: In re is part of the italic case name: (In re Quinlan, 1976)
• No year: if you truly can't find the year of the decision, use n.d.: (Name v. Name, n.d.). Every published decision has one, so look again first.

Once you've cited a case, it's fine to refer to it in your sentences by a short name, like the Tarasoff decision. Each formal citation uses the full case name, so it matches the reference entry.

Common mistakes

• Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976).Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976).The case name is plain text in the reference entry. It's italic only in your in-text citations and sentences.
• Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California. (1976). 17 Cal. 3d 425.Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976).Court cases follow the legal citation format, not the author-date order of most APA references. The year goes in parentheses at the end, after the reporter citations, with the court in front of it when no reporter names the court.
• Sermchief v. Gonzales, 660 S.W.2d 683 (1983).Sermchief v. Gonzales, 660 S.W.2d 683 (Mo. 1983).The South Western Reporter covers several states, so S.W.2d alone doesn't tell your reader which court decided the case. Add the court whenever no reporter in the reference names it.
• Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 551 P.2d 334 (Cal. 1976).Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976).Legal writers often cite only the regional reporter, but APA asks for every reporter the case is published in. With the court's own reporter (Cal. 3d) in the reference, the court drops out of the parentheses.
• Vitaly Tarasoff et al. vs. The Regents of the University of CaliforniaTarasoff v. Regents of the University of CaliforniaUse the last name of the first party on each side, drop "et al." and a leading "The," and write v., not vs.
• (Tarasoff, 1976)(Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 1976)The in-text citation starts with the same words as the reference entry, so it uses the full case name, in italics.

Quick checklist

• Case name with v., plain text in the reference
• Every reporter the case is published in: volume, abbreviation, and first page, separated by commas
• The state's own reporter first, when there is one
• Court abbreviation in parentheses, unless a reporter names the court
• The year of the decision, after the court
• An optional free link, never a Westlaw or Lexis link
• In text: the case name in italics and the year

Questions students ask

Related guides

• How to Cite a Supreme Court Case in APA 7
• How to Cite a Federal Court Case in APA 7
• How to Cite a State Law in APA 7
• How to Cite a State Nurse Practice Act in APA 7
• How to Cite a Federal Law in APA 7
• How to Cite a Webpage in APA 7

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Chapter 11 (legal references), Sections 11.1–11.4, including its rule to give all parallel citations, which follow the legal citation format of The Bluebook; court and reporter abbreviations from The Bluebook Table T1 and the Indigo Book. Example sources verified against each opinion on CourtListener and in the Caselaw Access Project (Harvard Law School Library): its caption, court, decision date, and every reporter citation.