PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/U.S. Supreme Court case

How to Cite a Supreme Court Case in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a U.S. Supreme Court case gives the case name (not italicized), a comma, the volume of the United States Reports, the abbreviation U.S., the page where the case begins, the year of the decision in parentheses, and a URL where the opinion can be read. There's no author and no court name. In the text, italicize the case name and add the year: (Roe v. Wade, 1973).

The format

Name v. Name, Volume U.S. Page (Year). URL

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 22, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Already have the case citation from your reading, like Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA recognizes it as a Supreme Court case and fills in the case name, the volume, the page, and the year. When it finds the case on CourtListener, a free case-law site, it adds a link to the opinion too. A citation with a blank page, like 609 U.S. ___ (2026), works as well, but PERRLA can't match it to CourtListener without the page, so add the link to the slip opinion yourself. Before you move on, check the case name and the year against the opinion.

Adding one by hand? Choose US Federal Court Cases (under Legal References), then Supreme Court case. Leave Where was the case published? on United States Reports (U.S.), and fill in the Case Name, the volume, the Case Starting Page Number, the Year, and the URL. No page yet? Leave the page box empty and PERRLA prints the three underscores APA uses. PERRLA keeps the case name plain on your references page and italicizes it in every in-text citation.

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 name of the case, with v. (lowercase, with a period) between the parties. In the reference it's plain text: no italics, no quotation marks.

Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health

Use the short name the case is known by, not the full caption on the first page of the opinion. The Court's caption for that case reads "Cruzan, by her parents and co-guardians, Cruzan et ux. v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, et al." Keep the first party on each side and drop the rest, along with et al. and descriptions of a party's job, like "District Attorney of Dallas County" after Wade's name in the Roe v. Wade caption. The page header of the opinion, or the case's title on Cornell's Legal Information Institute or Oyez, shows the short name.

2. Volume and U.S.

After a comma, give the volume of the United States Reports, the Court's official record of its decisions, then the abbreviation U.S. Neither one is italicized.

410 U.S.

The Court's own documents print the abbreviation with a space, "U. S.," but a reference writes it closed up: U.S. The Court's slip opinions already show the volume, so you'll usually have one even for a brand-new case.

3. First page

Next comes the page where the case begins in that volume.

410 U.S. 113

New decisions don't get a page number until their volume is put together, which can take a year or more. Until then, use three underscores where the page goes. The opinion itself shows this at the top of every page: "Cite as: 609 U. S. ___ (2026)."

609 U.S. ___

Once a page is assigned, update your reference. The APA manual's own Obergefell example shows a blank page, because none had been assigned when the manual went to print. The case now begins on page 644.

4. Year

Put the year the Court decided the case in parentheses, followed by a period. Don't add a court name: U.S. already tells your reader the case comes from the Supreme Court.

(1973).

Use the year of the decision, not the year it was argued. Roe v. Wade was argued in December 1971 and argued again in October 1972, but it was decided on January 22, 1973, so its year is 1973.

5. URL

End with a link to the opinion, when you have one. Free, stable sources work well: the Supreme Court's own website, Cornell's Legal Information Institute, and Oyez. Don't put a period after the link.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113

Skip links that need a login, like Westlaw or Lexis. Your reader can't open them, and the volume and page already point to the case.

Examples

A landmark case: Roe v. Wade

The 1973 abortion rights decision, still cited constantly in health policy, ethics, and nursing courses. Its year is the year it was decided, even though it was first argued in 1971.

  • Parenthetical citation(Roe v. Wade, 1973)
  • Narrative citationRoe v. Wade (1973)

The case that overruled it: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

The 2022 decision that overruled Roe v. Wade. Its reference looks the same as any other Supreme Court case. The link here goes to the Court's preliminary print, which shows the page numbers.

  • Parenthetical citation(Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 2022)
  • Narrative citationDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022)

A case that has its page now: Obergefell v. Hodges

The 2015 same-sex marriage decision. The APA manual printed it with a blank page because the page hadn't been assigned yet. The Court's bound volume now starts the case on page 644, so that's what your reference should say.

  • Parenthetical citation(Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015)
  • Narrative citationObergefell v. Hodges (2015)

A case with a long caption: Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health

The 1990 right-to-refuse-treatment case behind advance directives, a staple of nursing ethics courses. The opinion's full caption names Nancy Cruzan's parents as co-guardians, but the reference uses the short case name.

  • Parenthetical citation(Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 1990)
  • Narrative citationCruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990)

Quoting a case: Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 school desegregation decision, the case education students cite most. The line "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" is on page 495, so a quotation adds that page to the in-text citation. The reference still gives the page where the case begins.

  • Parenthetical citation(Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, p. 495)
  • Narrative citationBrown v. Board of Education (1954, p. 495)

A new case with no page yet: West Virginia v. B.P.J.

The Court's June 30, 2026, decision on Title IX and school sports. It's in volume 609, but its page hasn't been assigned, so the page is three underscores and the link goes to the Court's slip opinion. The initials are closed up with no spaces, the same way U.S. is.

  • Parenthetical citation(West Virginia v. B.P.J., 2026)
  • Narrative citationWest Virginia v. B.P.J. (2026)

In-text citations

A Supreme Court case's in-text citation is the case name and the year. The case name is italicized in your paper, including the v., even though it's plain on the references page.

  • Parenthetical: (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015)
  • Narrative: In Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990), the Court held…
  • A quotation: add the page where the words appear: (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, p. 495)
  • No page assigned yet: nothing changes in the text: (West Virginia v. B.P.J., 2026)

Use the same case name that's on your references page, and never cite a case by one party alone: (Wade, 1973) reads as if a person named Wade wrote something.

Common mistakes

  • (Roe v. Wade, 1973)(Roe v. Wade, 1973)Case names are italicized in the text of your paper. Only the reference leaves them plain.
  • Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113APA follows legal citation style here: the case name in the reference isn't italicized. It's the reverse of the in-text rule, which is why students and generators mix them up.
  • (Wade, 1973)(Roe v. Wade, 1973)A court case has no author. Generators that treat the second party as the author produce citations that point to nothing on your references page.
  • 410 U. S. 113410 U.S. 113The Court's own documents space out U. S., but the citation form closes it up. Copying straight from the opinion's header brings the space with it.
  • 576 U.S. 644 (U.S. 2015).576 U.S. 644 (2015).U.S. already says it's the Supreme Court, so the parentheses hold only the year. Federal courts below it are the ones that need a court name, like (9th Cir. 2002).
  • 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015).576 U.S. 644 (2015).Search results often show the Supreme Court Reporter citation first. Once a case has its page in the United States Reports, that's the one to give.

Quick checklist

  • Short case name, with v., not italicized in the reference
  • Volume, U.S. (no space), and the first page
  • Three underscores in place of a page that hasn't been assigned yet
  • The year of the decision in parentheses, with no court name
  • A free link to the opinion, with no period after it
  • Case name in italics in every in-text citation

Questions students ask

Do I italicize Supreme Court case names in APA 7?

In the text of your paper, yes: (Roe v. Wade, 1973). On the references page, no. The case name is plain there, because APA uses legal citation style for court cases.

How do I cite a Supreme Court case that doesn't have a page number yet?

Give the volume and U.S., then three underscores where the page would go: 609 U.S. ___ (2026). Link to the slip opinion on the Supreme Court's website. Check back before a final draft, because the page gets filled in once the volume comes together.

How do I cite Roe v. Wade now that it's been overturned?

The same way as before, with its volume, page, and 1973 decision year (see the Roe example above). APA's format for a court decision has no place for a note that a case was later overruled, so say it in your sentence and cite both cases: Roe v. Wade (1973) was overruled by Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).

Where do I find the volume and page for a Supreme Court case?

Look for the citation in the form 410 U.S. 113 at the top of the opinion, on Cornell's Legal Information Institute, on Oyez, or on CourtListener. Newer opinions on the Supreme Court's website show it on every page as "Cite as." The first number is the volume, and the last is the page.

Can I use the S. Ct. or L. Ed. citation instead?

Use the United States Reports citation (U.S.) whenever the case has one, which is how APA's own examples cite the Court. If your instructor asks for a Supreme Court Reporter or Lawyers' Edition citation, PERRLA offers both under Where was the case published?

Do I need a URL for a Supreme Court case?

Add one when you have it, so your reader can open the opinion. A link to the Supreme Court's website, Cornell's Legal Information Institute, or Oyez is ideal. Leave out database links that need a login, like Westlaw or Lexis.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 11.1–11.4 (legal references and court decisions), which follow the legal citation format of The Bluebook, and its Supreme Court examples. Example sources verified against the Supreme Court's own documents on supremecourt.gov (the bound volume of 576 U.S., the preliminary print of 597 U.S. 215, and the October Term 2025 slip opinion list for No. 24-43), Cornell's Legal Information Institute, Oyez, CourtListener, and the Caselaw Access Project.

PERRLA turns a pasted Supreme Court citation into a finished reference and italicizes the case name in every in-text citation for you.

Try PERRLA free for 7 days