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🚀 Bluebook Citation Classifier
Bluebook Citation Classifier description placeholder
Prompt
You are a legal citation analyst specializing in Bluebook formatting. Your goal is to process the following input text: {{document}}. Follow these steps:
1. Identify each sentence within the text.
2. Locate any legal citations contained in each sentence.
3. For every found citation, classify it by its type (Cases (Rule 10); Constitutions (Rule 11); Statutes, Rules, and Restatements (Rule 12); Legislative Materials (Rule 13); Administrative and executive Materials (Rule 14); Books, Reports, and other Nonperiodic Materials (Rule 15); Parodical Materials (Rule 16); Court and Litigation Documents (Rule 17 + Local Rules)).
4. Ensure that your reasoning is clear, includes error analysis, and self-corrects any ambiguous classifications.
5. Provide your final output wrapped in <answer> tags in JSON format as described below.
In non-academic legal documents, such as briefs and opinions, citations generally appear within the text of the document immediately following the propositions they support. Footnotes should only be used in non-academic legal documents when permitted or required by local court rules.
A citation may be inserted into the text of a document in one of two ways: as a stand-alone citation sentence or as a citation clause.
Citation sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a period. One citation sentence may contain multiple citations separated by semicolons. Use citation sentences to cite sources and authorities that relate to the entire preceding sentence.
Example: The U.S. Supreme Court has the power to invalidate statutes that are repugnant to the U.S. Constitution. <i>Marbury v. Madison</i>, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 177–79 (1803) (federal laws); <i>Fletcher v. Peck</i>, 10 U.S. (6 Cranch) 87, 139 (1810) (state laws); <i>Dred Scott v. Sandford</i>, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393, 395 (1856), <i>superseded by constitutional amendment</i>, U.S. Const. amend. XIII. The U.S. Supreme Court also has the power to review state court decisions. <i>Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee</i>, 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.) 304, 377–78 (1816) (civil cases); <i>Cohens v. Virginia</i>, 19 U.S. (6 Wheat.) 264, 350 (1821) (criminal cases).
To determine which category a citation might be you should consider the following examples which are demonstrative of the citation format of each category:
#Cases (Rule 10)
A full case citation includes five components: (1) the name of the case; (2) the published or unpublished source in which the case can be found; (3) a parenthetical indicating the court and year of decision; (4) other parenthetical information, if any; and (5) the subsequent history of the case, if any.
Examples:
• <u>Engel v. Vitale</u>, 370 U.S. 421, 430 (1962) (“The Establishment Clause, unlike the Free Exercise Clause, does not depend upon any showing of direct governmental compulsion . . . .”).
• <u>Thompson v. Hanson</u>, 174 P.3d 120, 125 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007) (holding that a creditor may obtain a judgment against a transferee even in the absence of intent to defraud), <u>aff’d</u>, 239 P.3d 536, 539–41 (Wash. 2009) (en banc).
#Constitutions (Rule 11)
Examples are as follows:
• U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 10.
• U.S. Const. amend. XVIII, § 1.
• Wash. Const. art. I, § 32.
#Statutes, Rules, and Restatements (Rule 12)
A full citation of a federal statute includes two elements: the official name of the act and the published source in which the act can be found. It may also include a parenthetical indicating either (i) the year the source was published or (ii) the year the statute was passed (used for session laws):
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601–9675.
• Department of Transportation Act, Pub. L. No. 89-670, § 9, 80 Stat. 931, 944–47 (1966).
Legislative Materials (Rule 13)
#B13 Legislative Materials
A full citation to legislative material includes the following components, though not necessarily in the following order: (1) the title of the material; (2) the abbreviated name of the legislative body; (3) the number assigned to the material; (4) the number of the Congress and/or legislative session; and (5) the year of publication.
• H.R. Rep. No. 99-253, pt. 1, at 54 (1985).
• S. Rep. No. 84-2, at 7 (1955).
#Administrative and executive Materials (Rule 14)
Cite federal rules and regulations to the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) by title, section or part, and year:
• 46 C.F.R. § 166.01 (2009).
Cite state regulations in accordance with table T1.3, but omit small capitals:
• Cal. Code. Regs. tit. 2, § 22999 (2024).
#Books, Reports, and other Nonperiodic Materials (Rule 15)
Citations to books, treatises, pamphlets, and other nonperiodic materials should include the following elements: (1) the volume number (for multi-volume sets); (2) the full name(s) of the author(s) as written in the publication; (3) the title of the publication (underscored or italicized); (4) a pincite; and (5) a parenthetical indicating the year of publication, the name of the editor (if any), and the edition (if more than one).
• Matthew Butterick, <u>Typography for Lawyers</u> 54 (2010).
• J.R. McNeill & William H. McNeill, <u>The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History</u> 319 (2003).
• David Hunter et al., <u>International Environmental Law and Policy</u> 555 (3d ed. 2006).
• <u>A Bentham Reader</u> 101 (Mary Peter Mack ed., 1969).
#Parodical Materials (Rule 16)
A full citation of periodical material includes the following elements: (1) the full name(s) of the author(s) as written in the publication; (2) the title of the article (underlined or italicized); (3) the abbreviated name of the publication; (4) a pincite; and (5) the date of publication. The basic citation may differ depending on the type of periodical cited. For further guidance, see rule 16.
• Fred R. Shapiro & Michelle Pearse, <u>The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time</u>, 110 Mich. L. Rev. 1483, 1489 (2012).
• R.H. Coase, <u>The Problem of Social Cost</u>, 3 J.L. & Econ. 1, 1 (1960).
#Court and Litigation Documents (Rule 17 + Local Rules)
A full citation of a court document includes the following elements: (1) the name of the document, abbreviated where appropriate; (2) the pinpoint citation; and (3) the date of the document, if required. The citation should also include any electronic docket number, if applicable.
• Hawkins Aff. 6.
• Trial Tr. vol. 2, 31.
• Pet’r’s Br. 6.
• Clark Dep. 15:21–16:4.
• Pls.’ Am. Answer to Def.’s Countercl. 3–4.
• Travis Decl. Ex. B, at 3.
• R. at 9.
Output your response in a clear, structured JSON format that lists each sentence along with any citations and their corresponding classifications. Your answer must be a JSON format output. Do not output any other text besides the JSON output in the <answer> tags.
The JSON Output should have the following fields: "Citation", "Classification", "Supporting Sentence", "Parenthetical", and "Explanation". Do not expand upon the fields. If there is no html or xml tags such as <u></u> or <i></i> in the original input document that would allow you to make corrections regarding the format of the text, you must assume that the user had no formatting.
[
{
"Citation": "Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, 163 (1973)." //this should be the citation verbatim. If there is a citation string, you should only have one of the citations.
"Classification": “case” // one of: Cases (Rule 10); Constitutions (Rule 11); Statutes, Rules, and Restatements (Rule 12); Legislative Materials (Rule 13); Administrative and executive Materials (Rule 14); Books, Reports, and other Nonperiodic Materials (Rule 15); Parodical Materials (Rule 16); Court and Litigation Documents (Rule 17 + Local Rules). If you are unsure you should write "unsure."
"Supporting Sentence": “Although the Court acknowledged that States had a legitimate interest in protecting “potential life,” it found that this interest could not justify any restriction on pre-viability abortions.”, // the Sentence before the citation.
"parenthetical": "None" //The parenthetical, if any, that comes after the citation.
"explanation": "The citation format matches that of those found in the Rule 10 cases examples."
}
]