A.O. NO. 2006-3 MI. UNIF. SYS OF CITATION, 2004-45 (Mich. 3-15-2006)


Administrative Order No. 2006-3 Michigan Uniform System of Citation.

ADM File No. 2004-45.Supreme Court of Michigan.
March 15, 2006.

On order of the Court, Administrative Order Nos. 1987-2 and 2001-5, which amended the Michigan Uniform System of Citations, are rescinded. Effective May 1, 2006, all reported decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals shall adhere to and follow the Michigan Uniform System of Citation as revised by this order.

The Michigan Uniform System of Citation provides a comprehensive scheme for citation of authority in documents filed with or issued by Michigan courts. This revision reflects the style currently used in the opinions of the Supreme Court as published in Michigan Reports. It is based on the former Uniform System of Citations, Administrative Order No. 1971-3, 385 Mich xxvi-xxxv (1971), Administrative Order No. 1973-5, 390 Mich xxxi (1973), Administrative Order No. 1987-2, 428 Mich cviii (1987), Administrative Order No. 2001-5, 464 Mich lxxviii (2001), and the Proposed Rules of Citation, 402A Mich 455-468 (1978).

For matters not covered, refer to The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed), for guidance, but conform citations to Michigan citation style.

I. Citation of Authority A. Citation of Cases
1. Initial citation.

The first time a case is cited in an opinion, either in the body of the text or in a footnote, cite in full the official reporter of its jurisdiction (where available), and include the parallel citation of the regional reporter.
Mayberry v. Pryor, 422 Mich 579; 374 NW2d 683
(1985).
If a case is first cited in an order, either in the body of the text or in a footnote, cite the official report only.

Mayberry v. Pryor, 422 Mich 579 (1985).

Where an official citation is not yet available, provide blanks for the volume and page numbers.
Mayberry v. Pryor, ___ Mich ___; 374 NW2d 683
(1985).
If a case is initially cited only in a footnote, it must be re-cited in full in the text if it is referred to subsequently in the text.

2. Subsequent citation.

a. Once cited in full in the text, a case need not be cited again in full in the text or a footnote. Subsequent reference in the text or in a footnote may use any of the following shortened forms:
E.g., Mayberry; Mayberry, supra; Mayberry v. Pryor.
(N.B.: “Id.” may be used as a subsequent reference only if no other authority intervenes between the previous citation of the same source and “id.“)
b. Where a case is cited in full in a footnote, a subsequent short-form citation may be used in a subsequent footnote to refer the reader to the full citation:

Mayberry, n. 4 supra.
3. Point or “jump” citation.

a. To refer to an internal page of an opinion, cite the official reporter where available:
1) initial citation: include the “jump” page in the complete citation:
Mayberry v. Pryor, 422 Mich 579, 587; 374 NW2d 683
(1985); or
2) subsequent citation: append the “jump” page to any short-form citation:
Mayberry, supra, p. 587; Mayberry, supra at 587; Mayberry, p. 587; id., p. 587; id. at 587; 422 Mich 587.
(N.B.: The form of the short-form citation must be consistent throughout an opinion. Do not mix Mayberry, supra, p. 587, with Mayberry, supra
at 587.)
b. If the official report of a case is not yet available, refer to the “jump” page in an unofficial report:
1) initial citation: Galster v. Woods (On Rehearing), 173 Cal App 3d 529, ___; 219 Cal Rptr 500, 509
(1985);
2) subsequent citation: Galster, supra, 219 Cal Rptr 509; or id., 219 Cal Rptr 509; or 219 Cal Rptr 509 (N.B.: it is mandatory in this situation that the identity of the unofficial reporter be shown because references to pages not otherwise identified are presumed to be to the official reporter.)

4. Case names.

a. Italicizing. Names of cases should be italicized both in the text of an opinion and in footnotes. Underscoring no longer should be used to indicate italics.
b. Official sources. Cite the name of a case as set forth on the first page of the official reporter as fully as necessary for recognition. Do not show et al., et ux., or like references to other parties in a case name, but do show ex rel (for on the Relation of
or for the use and benefit of) and the relator’s name.
c. Abbreviations. Where the name of the case as it appears in the official reporter is long or involved, it should be shortened. Abbreviations are encouraged for common words such as Commission (Comm), County (Co), Manufacturing (Mfg), International (Int’l), etc., where appropriate. Citations should include only the first plaintiff’s surname or corporate name and the first defendant’s surname or corporate name.

Examples:

The title in the official report of 262 US 447 is Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, et al., and should be cited as Massachusetts v. Mellon, 262 US 447; 43 S Ct 597; 67 L Ed 1078 (1923).
International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO Frigidaire Local 801 v. NLRB, 113 US App DC 342; 307 F2d 679 (1962), may be shortened to Electrical Workers Union v. NLRB, etc.
d. Identical titles. Where two or more separate cases with the same title are referred to in an opinion:
1) add the first names of the parties in order to distinguish the cases, e.g., People v. John Smith/People v. Mary Smith, etc.; or
2) add a roman numeral after the case name, e.g., Smith I, Smith II, etc.
(N.B.: Where cases with identical surnames are reported in the same volume, first names are included. It is not necessary to include first names when cited in a slip opinion unless two or more cases with such names are cited in the slip opinion.)

e. Officials as parties.

1) Michigan cases: If a person was sued in an official capacity, use that person’s official title, not the name of the person.

Jones v. Secretary of State, not Jones v. Austin;

Giannotta v. Governor, not Giannotta v. Milliken

2) United States Supreme Court cases and cases from other jurisdictions: Follow the commonly accepted practice within the jurisdiction (if known) regarding the surname or title of the party. Otherwise, follow (e)(1). E.g., in cases decided in the United States Supreme Court and some sister states, the title of a party is not ordinarily used.

Example:

Massachusetts v. Mellon, not Massachusetts v. Secretary of Treasury
f. State or city as a party. Where a state or a city is a party, use only the name of the state or city:
The title that appears at 383 Mich 579 is Consumers Power Company v. State of Michigan; cite it as Consumers Power Co v. Michigan.
If the name of a city also commonly may be used as a surname, such as the city of Warren, cite as Jones v. City of Warren; but where a city is well known, it should be cited as Jones v. Detroit.

g. Traffic violations, civil infractions.

1) In cases involving a civil infraction of a traffic ordinance of a political subdivision, the proper party is the subdivision:
City of Troy v. Ohlinger, 438 Mich 477; 475 NW2d 54
(1991), not People of the City of Troy, or People v. Ohlinger.
2) However, where a civil infraction is a violation of the Vehicle Code, the proper party is the state:
People v. Ferency, 133 Mich App 526; 351 NW2d 225
(1984). See 1978 PA 510, MCL 257.741.
h. County, township, or school district as a party.
Place the name of the county, township, or school district first and then Co, Twp, School Dist, or Bd of Ed, regardless of the entitlement of the case in the reports.

Examples:

Oakland Co v. Smith; Bush v. Waterford Twp; Jones v. Waverly School Dist; Smith v. Lansing Bd of Ed.
i. Second case name. Do not give a second name for a case if the first will fully identify it.

Examples of a second name being required:

Harvey v. Lewis (In re Escrow Funds), 364 Mich 491; 111 NW2d 119 (1961), and Harvey v. Lewis (In re Fee for Receiver’s Attorney), 364 Mich 493; 112 NW2d 500
(1961).
j. Rehearing, remand, or amended. If the opinion cited was decided on rehearing or after remand, the specification (On Rehearing), (On Remand), or (After Remand) is part of the title and must be included in the citation. Also if an opinion is amended by a special panel of the Court of Appeals, the specification (Amended Opinion) should be included.

Example:

People v. Walker, 371 Mich 599; 124 NW2d 761 (1963); People v. Walker (On Rehearing), 374 Mich 331; 132 NW2d 87 (1965).

k. Supplemental opinions.

Example:

In re Ernst, 373 Mich 337, Supplemental Opinion, 349; 129 NW2d 430 (1964).

l. Punctuation in case citations.

1) The official volume number, reporter abbreviation, page number, parallel citation and year are in nonrestrictive apposition with the case name and must be preceded by a comma and followed by a comma, semicolon, period, or other punctuation (except where parenthetical matter postpones it).

Example:

“resolved in Village of Kingsford v. Cudlip, 258 Mich 144; 241 NW 893 (1932), where the Court. . . .”
2) Parallel citations are separated from official citations and from other parallel citations by semicolons to avoid confusion with the commas that frequently separate point citations. These semicolons should not be viewed as punctuation, but merely as separators.

Example:

People ex rel Gummow v. Larson, 35 Ill 2d 280, 282; 220 NE2d 165 (1966).
However, where a string of citations is conjoined by “and,” use commas to separate the complete citation of each case.

Example:

Nicholls v. Charlevoix Circuit Judge, 155 Mich 455; 120 NW 343 (1909), Kemp v. Stradley, 134 Mich 676; 97 NW 41 (1903), and Backus v. Detroit, 49 Mich 110; 13 NW 380 (1882).
Where a string of citations is not conjoined by “and,” separate with semicolons.

m. Jurisdiction.

1) Michigan and state courts. Jurisdiction is usually shown by the abbreviation of the title of the official reporter: Michigan Supreme Court (Mich); Michigan Court of Appeals (Mich App); United States Supreme Court (US). Where official reports are no longer published, the jurisdiction must be indicated in the parentheses at the end of the citation, followed by a comma and the year of decision. For the highest court of a state, only the name of the state should be shown. Use the abbreviations of state names listed in State abbreviations, p. XX (Appendix A). For intermediate appellate courts, abbreviate the name of the court in addition to the state name.

Examples:

People v. Blythe, 417 Mich 430; 339 NW2d 399 (1983); Gaines v. Betts, 2 Doug 98 (Mich, 1845); State v. Gallion, 572 P2d 683 (Utah, 1977); Miller v. Stumbo, 661 SW2d 1 (Ky App, 1983)
2) Federal circuit courts. Federal courts of appeals are shown in parentheses with the date of decision as CA plus the circuit number or” Fed” for the federal circuit. E.g.: CA 6, not 6 Cir or 6th Cir or CCA 6. (N.B.: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is not shown in parentheses because there is an official reporter: App DC or US App DC, and a citation of the official reporter indicates the jurisdiction.)

Examples:

Kirkland v. Preston, 128 US App DC 148; 385 F2d 670
(1967). Ierardi v. Gunter, 528 F2d 929, 930-931 (CA 1, 1976).
3) Federal district courts. Federal districts, but not divisions, are shown in parentheses if one exists (ED Mich, not ND ED Mich). If a state comprises only one district, use D plus the state abbreviation, not the state abbreviation alone.

Example:

United States ex rel Mayberry v. Yeager, 321 F Supp 199, 211 (D NJ, 1971).
4) Early US Supreme Court cases. Early US reports, through 90 US, are to be cited by consecutive volume number in the US series. The corresponding reporter’s name (abbreviated) and volume number in parentheses may be added.

Example:

Sexton v. Wheaton, 21 US (8 Wheat) 229; 5 L Ed 603
(1823).

n. Parallel citations.

1) Parallel citations for United States Supreme Court reports are to be given in the order S Ct; L Ed.
2) A parallel citation of the National Reporter System Regional Reports is to be given if one exists. For New York or California cases, the New York Supplement or California Reporter citation also must be given.
3) Parallel citations of other reports, e.g., ALR, may be given if the case is reported in full therein.

o. Unavailable citations.

1) When an official and a parallel citation are not yet available, provide blanks in which the information later can be inserted.

Example:

___ Mich ___; ___ NW2d ___ (1978).

Do not use this form where the citation will never
be available because reports have been discontinued.
2) USLW, LEXIS, WESTLAW, or other advance reports or abstract citations should be given only if both the official and the regional or other permanent unofficial report citations are not yet available.
p. Periods and spacing of report names and capitalization.
1) Use no periods in abbreviations of report names, even if there are two or more words, and do not insert a space where single letters abbreviate the words.

Examples:

NE; NW; NY; RI; US; ALR

2) Do insert a space where more than one letter is used to abbreviate the individual words, and capitalize the first letter of each word.

Examples:

Mich App; F Supp; US App DC; S Ct; L Ed

3) Insert a space between the report name and series designation (2d, etc.) if the last word is abbreviated with more than one letter; otherwise do not.

Examples:

(No space) F2d; NYS2d; ALR3d; A2d; NE2d; SW2d (Space) Wis 2d; So 2d; Misc 2d; L Ed 2d (Exception-space) LRA NS
q. Date of decision. Generally, the year of decision
should follow parallel citations in parentheses; however, in the Court of Appeals, where controlling authority is governed by MCR 7.215(J)(1), the year of release should be inserted.
E.g., Farrell v. Auto Club of Michigan was decided on October 25, 1990, but was approved for publication on January 16, 1991. The correct citation form is: Farrell v. Auto Club of Michigan (On Remand), 187 Mich App 220; 466 NW2d 298 (1991). The time of release is not to be noted in the citation.
r. Subsequent history. Citation of denial of discretionary action such as rehearing, leave to appeal, certiorari, reconsideration, or the like should not be indicated unless jurisprudentially significant within the jurisdiction. (N.B.: In Michigan, denial of leave has no effect on the precedence of a case, see MCR 7.321; this is also true with regard to denial of certiorari by the United States Supreme Court, see Maryland v. Baltimore Radio Show, 338 US 912, 919 [1950].)
Where given, subsequent history should be indicated by using the following abbreviations without periods and not followed by a comma:
affirmed aff’d affirming aff’g appeal dismissed app dis certiorari denied cert den leave to appeal denied lv den leave to appeal granted lv gtd modified mod rehearing denied reh den rehearing granted reh gtd reversed rev’d reversed on other grounds rev’d on other grounds reversing rev’g vacated no abbreviation
Only the official report of subsequent action should be cited.
s. Unreported matters. Cite unpublished Michigan cases and orders as follows, and foreign cases by analogy:
A v. B, unpublished opinion per curiam (or memorandum opinion) of the Court of Appeals, issued [month, day, year] (Docket No. ____).
A v. B, unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered [month, day, year] (Docket No. ____).
A v. B, unpublished opinion of the ____ Circuit Court, issued ____ (Docket No. ____ [suffix]).
Unpublished opinion of the Attorney General (No. ____, [month, day, year]).
t. String citations. Use of overly long string citations, even in footnotes, generally should be avoided inasmuch as “they may cast doubt upon the credibility of your claims because they can give the impression that your case is so weak that you have to substantiate it with every source you can find.” More effective is the use of “only one or two of your strongest sources.” Charrow Erhardt, Clear and Effective Legal Writing (Boston: Little, Brown Co, 1986), ch 3, p. 64.

5. Consistent citation form: The citation form used within an opinion should be uniform, i.e., do not mix id., p. 270, with id. at 270, o Ensign, supra, p. 270, with Ensign, supra at 270.

B. Citation of Constitutions, Statutes, Regulations, Court Rules, andJury Instructions
1. Constitutions.

a. Michigan. Give the year of the constitution (not the year of an amendment), article, and section number in Arabic numerals.

Example:

Const 1963, art 6, § 1; Const 1963, sched § 1.

If the section has been amended since adoption, the reference is presumed to be to the current section unless otherwise indicated.
b. United States. Give the article or amendment number in Roman numerals and the section number in Arabic numerals:

Example:

US Const, art III, § 1.

For amendments:

US Const, Am XIV (not Art XIV).

c. Other states. Cite by analogy to the Michigan Constitution and United States Constitution.

2. Statutes.

a. Michigan.

1) Public and local acts.

Cite the year, “PA” or “LA,” and the act number.

Examples:

1974 PA 296, not Act 296, 1974; 1974 LA 1.

If enacted at an extra session, the extra session designation follows the year in parentheses.

Examples:

1912 (1st Ex Sess) PA 10, part 2, § 9, 1967 (Ex Sess) PA 3

2) Amended acts.

Cite as: 1961 PA 236, as amended (or as added) by 1974 PA 52, MCL 600.103.
3) Compiled Laws. Cite the official compilations of 1948, 1970, and 1979 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. (N.B.: Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated [MCLA] and Michigan Compiled Laws Service [MCLS] have the same numbering system.)

Examples:

1948 CL 566.140 1970 CL 35.291.

When citing, use MCL for the current (1979) compilation, not MCLA or MCLS, e.g., MCL 776.20. Inclusion of the public act number is optional. If used, the form is: 1937 PA 286, MCL 487.703. Subsequent references in the same opinion may be shortened as follows:

§ 3, or Act 286, § 3.

4) Catchlines. The boldface catchlines found at the beginning of, and sometimes elsewhere in, statutes in the Public and Local Acts, MCL, MCLA, and MCLS were inserted by an editor, not enacted by the Legislature. They are not part of the statute and should not be included when quoting a statute. Similarly, catchlines found in a statute following the section number, as in many sections of the Michigan Penal Code, are not part of the statute and should not be included in quotations.
5) Section numbers. Generally speaking, any section number appearing at the beginning of a statute also should be omitted from the quotation unless needed for clarity, e.g., if the sections of the act are not evident and will be used later in an opinion in short form for reference.
6) History. The statutory history that follows each section also is not part of the legislative enactment and should not be included in quoted material.

Examples:

691.1412 Claims under act; defenses available.
[delete]
[Sec. 12.] [delete] Claims under this act are subject to all of the defenses available to claims sounding in tort brought against private persons.
[HISTORY: New 1964, p. 224, Act 170, Eff. Jul. 1, 1965.] [delete]

7) Short titles.

a) Official title. If an act has an official “short title” enacted as part of the act, capitalize the initial letters of the title. Indication of the year of enactment is unnecessary, even though it may be given as part of the title.

Example:

1961 PA 236, § 101, MCL 600.101 provides:

“This act shall be known and may be cited as the revised judicature act of 1961.”
Omit the 1961 in citation, referring to it merely as the Revised Judicature Act.
Generally recognized abbreviations of titles may be used, whether mentioned in the act or not. For example, § 101 of the Revised Judicature Act specifically authorizes use of the abbreviation “RJA”; § 1101 of the Uniform Commercial Code gives the title without mentioning an abbreviation, but UCC is permissible.
b) No official title. If an act does not have an official title, a short title used in referring to it should not be capitalized unless it is a word that is normally capitalized. For example, the teacher tenure act, MCL 38.71 et seq., has no official title, nor has the no-fault act, MCL 500.3101 et seq.
c) Multiple titles. An act may be referred to by an unofficial title even though it has an official title.
Worker’s Disability Compensation Act/workers’ compensation act
d) Sponsors. Generally omit the names of an act’s sponsors in an official act.
The R. Hood-McNeely-Geake Malpractice Arbitration Act of 1975 should be referred to as the Malpractice Arbitration Act; the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, as the Civil Rights Act or the Michigan Civil Rights Act where an opinion also refers to the federal Civil Rights Act.
b. Federal. Cite the title and section numbers of the United States Code without punctuation or section symbol: 11 USC 29, not 11 USC § 29. The official United States Code (USC), the United States Code Annotated (USCA), and the United States Code Service (USCS) all use the same numbering system; therefore, cite the official version (USC). Citation of the Statutes at Large is unnecessary except where there is no corresponding USC citation or where the particular USC title has not been enacted into positive law and the wording of USC is materially
different from that of the Statutes at Large. Federal session laws are to be cited:

PL 96-123, § 109, 93 Stat 926.

c. Other states. Cite in the manner usually followed in the jurisdiction, preferably in the official reports, consistent with manual form. The jurisdiction must appear clearly in or with the citation. Consult the Bluebook for titles.

Examples:

Ariz Rev Stat 13-4032, not ARS 13-4032.

NH Rev Stat Ann 651:57, not NHRSA 651:57.

The year of compilation should not be included unless the reference is not to a statute currently in force.

3. Court rules.

a. Michigan Court Rules of 1985.

Cite as: MCR and the rule number. (MCR 2.625.)

b. Michigan Rules of Evidence.

Cite as: MRE and the rule number. (MRE 801.)

c. Former court rules.

1) General Court Rules of 1963: GCR 1963, 105.4.

2) Court Rules of 1945: Court Rule No 8, § 7 (1945).
3) Earlier court rules: Cite analogously to the Court Rules of 1945.
4) Former District Court Rules: DCR and the rule number.
5) Former Probate Court Rules: PCR and the rule number.
6) Former Juvenile Court Rules: JCR 1969, and the rule number.

d. Local Court Rules.

[Jurisdiction] LCR and the rule number. (30th Circuit LCR 2.119.)

e. Proposed court rules.

Proposed MCR and the rule number.

f. Rules of Professional Conduct.

MRPC 1.0.

g. Code of Judicial Conduct.

Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 1.

h. State Bar Rules.

SBR 6, § 3.

i. Rules of the Board of Law Examiners.

BLE 5.

j. Federal rules.

1) Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: FR Civ P 52(a).
2) Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: FR Crim P 11.

3) Federal Rules of Evidence: FRE 803(24).

k. Other jurisdictions. Cite in the same manner as cited by the official reporter of the court, but consistent with manual form.

4. Administrative orders.

Administrative Order No. 1993-1. Subsequent extensive
references may be shortened: AO 1993-1.

5. Jury instructions.

a. Criminal Jury Instructions: CJI2d 1.1.

b. Michigan Model Civil Jury Instructions: M Civ JI 3.02.

6. Administrative rules.

a. 1999 Administrative Code: 1999 AC, R 408.41863.

b. If the rule has been amended or superseded, cite the appropriate Annual Supplement where available: 1983 AACS, R 408.41863, or a more recent revision in the Michigan Register: 1985 MR 7, R 408.30495c.
(N.B.: Revisions appear monthly in the Michigan Register and are cumulated annually in AACS. E.g., regulations published in 1985 MR, vols. 1-12, are later reprinted in 1985 AACS.)
Subsequent references may be shortened: Rule 408.41863.
2003 PA 53 amended §§ 55 and 59 of the Administrative Procedures Act, MCL 24.255 and 24.259, effective July 14, 2003, to provide that the official Michigan Administrative Code is what is published and annually supplemented on the Office of Regulatory Reform website at http://www.michigan.gov/orr.

C. Miscellaneous Citations
1. Attorney General opinions.

Cite as:

1 OAG, 1956, No 3,010, p. 407 (August 26, 1957). OAG, 1947-1948, No 146, p. 217 (March 7, 1947).

2. Municipal charters and ordinances.

a. Charters. Cite the name of the municipality, the charter, and sufficient data to identify the particular section of interest uniquely, but not redundantly. For example, if all the sections of chapter 6 of a charter are numbered as 6.1, 6.2, etc., and sections in no other chapter are so numbered, 6.2 is sufficient and ch 6 should not be added to the citation.

Examples:

Detroit Charter, tit VI, ch VII, § 11. Lansing Charter, § 5-207.

b. Ordinances.

1) Codified Ordinances. Cite the name of the municipality, the ordinance code, and sufficient data to identify the particular section of interest uniquely, but not redundantly.

Example:

Detroit Ordinance, § 38-5-7.

2) Uncodified Ordinances. Cite the name of the municipality and the ordinance number and section; the date is unnecessary for ordinances currently in force, but should be added in parentheses when necessary to distinguish from other versions.

Example:

Saginaw Ordinance D-511, § 203.

3. Administrative decisions.

Cite published cases as follows:

A v. B, 1978 MERC Lab Op 328. (Employment Relations Commission)
A v. B, 95 LRRM 1274 (1977). (Labor Relations Reference Manual)
A v. B, 1 MTTR 95 (Docket No. 3799, May 15, 1975). (Tax Tribunal Reports)
A v. B, 1979 WCABO 2617. (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board Opinions)
A v. B, 1989 Mich ACO 1. (Workers’ Compensation Appellate Commission Opinions)

Cite other reports by analogy.

4. Constitutional Convention.

2 Official Record, Constitutional Convention 1961, p. 2038.

5. Legislative materials.

a. Bills.

HB 4015. SB 481.

b. Journals.

1) Bound volumes. Cite the year of the session and the page number:
1965 Journal of the House 77-78. 1983 Journal of the Senate 2280.
2) Advance sheets. Cite, in addition, the pamphlet number and the date of issue:
1986 Journal of the House 76 (No. 6, January 22, 1986).
1986 Journal of the Senate 449 (No. 26, March 6, 1986).

c. Analyses.

House Legislative Analysis, HB 6037, September 29, 1980.

6. Executive orders.

Cite in full:

Executive Order No. 1991-1. Short forms: order 1991-1 or EO 1991-1.

7. Legal treatises and texts.

a. Examples:

3 ABA Standards for Criminal Justice (2d ed), Standard 18-4.1, commentary, p. 18-240

78 ALR2d 218, § 2, pp 220-221

2 Am Jur 2d, Administrative Law, § 698, p. 597

Anno: Fraud or undue influence in conveyance from child to parent, 11 ALR 735, 746
3 Callaghan’s Michigan Pleading Practice (2d ed), § 16.23, p. 564

26 CJS, Declaratory Judgment, § 108, p. 214

1 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations (2d ed), p. 10

2 Couch, Insurance, 2d (rev ed), § 15:57, pp 298-302

1 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law Procedure (2d ed), § 312, p. 374

Lewis, Trusts (13th ed), p. 91

2 Martin, Dean Webster, Michigan Court Rules Practice, p. 334 McCormick, Evidence (3d ed), § 72, p. 171
12 McQuillin, Municipal Corporations (3d ed, 1976 Cum Supp), § 32.133, p. 141

12 Michigan Law Practice, Fraud, § 10, pp 409-410

Prosser Keeton, Torts (5th ed), § 4, p. 21

Restatement Contracts, 2d (Tentative Draft No 8, 1973), § 267, pp 77-78
2 Restatement Torts, 2d, Appendix (1966), § 344, p. 237

3 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 520, p. 41

3 Sands, Sutherland Statutory Construction (4th ed), § 62.01, p. 113
2 Weinstein Berger, Evidence, ¶ 412[01], pp 412-10, 412-11

6 Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn rev), § 1747, p. 195

b. Subsequent citation: Once an authority has been cited in full, a short-form citation may be used where it will not result in confusion. E.g.:

Weinstein, ¶ 411

Wigmore, § 1745

Cooley, p. 10

Restatement, § 340

Note, however, where a citation of the Restatement of Contracts intervenes after a citation of the Restatement of Torts, simply providing “Restatement, § 340,” will not suffice because it could refer to either.

8. United States Law Week. Use only where an official or regional reporter is unavailable.

Comm’r of Internal Revenue v. Kowalski, ___ US ___; ___ S Ct ___; ___ L Ed 2d ___; 46 USLW 4015 (November 29, 1977).
Pechter v. Lyons, ___ F Supp ___; 46 USLW 2251 (SD NY, November 8, 1977).

9. LEXIS/WESTLAW. Use only where an official or regional reporter is unavailable.

A v. B, ___ [Official Reporter] ___; ___ [Unofficial Reporter(s)] ____; [year] LEXIS/WL [library] [page].

10. Nonlegal books. Cite the author, editor, or issuing institution, title in italics, and, in parentheses, the place of publication, colon, publisher, edition number, and year of publication, followed by, if appropriate, sufficient data to identify the matter of interest, such as the chapter and page number.

Examples:

Greenfield Sternbach, eds, Handbook of Psychophysiology (New York: Holt, Rinehart
Winston, Inc, 1972), ch 19, p. 749
Yung-Ping Chen The Technical Committee on Income, Income: Background Issues (Washington, DC: White House Conference on Aging, 1971)
United States Bureau of the Census, Census of Population: 1970, Detailed Characteristics; Final Report PC(1)-D24 Michigan (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1972)
Bernstein, The Careful Writer (New York: Atheneum, 1973) Follett, Modern American Usage (New York: Hill Wang, 1966)
Evans, A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage
(New York: Random House, 1957)

11. Dictionaries.

Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed) (no italics)

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Edition (1966)
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: Unabridged Edition

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary (1991)

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1973)

12. Law review material.

a. Include the volume number, abbreviated name of the law review or journal, page number or numbers, and, in parentheses, the year.
b. Articles with named authors should be cited beginning with the surname of the author (unless more is needed for certainty) and the title in italics.
c. A commentary or note should be cited as commentary or note, comma, and italicized title. (N.B.: The name of the author should not be included.)
d. Matter in the nature of a regular department of a periodical having a number of contributors or anonymous contributors should be cited by the usual title, e.g., Current Law Notes, Recent Legislation, Recent Developments, and not italicized.

Examples:

Comment, Prosecutorial discretion in the duplicative statutes setting, 42 U Colo L R 455 (1971)
Conyers, The politics of revenue sharing, 52 J Urban L 61 (1974)
Crawford, Local zoning control of billboards A guide for Michigan Attorneys, 1989 Det Col L R 1473 Kimble, Protecting your writing from law practice, 66 Mich B J 912 (1987)
Kutak Gottschalk, In search of a rational sentence: A return to the concept of appellate review, 53 Neb L R 463 (1974)
Moley, The use of the information in criminal cases, 17 ABA J 292 (1931)
Project, Seventeenth annual review of criminal procedure, 76 Geo L J 521, 925 (1988)
Richardson, 1983 Annual Survey of Michigan Law, Natural resources, real property and trusts, 30 Wayne L R 763, 769-772

13. Internet material. Materials found only on an Internet website should include an author (if available), a title, an Internet address and the date on which the site was accessed.

Examples: James Wyman, Florida Law Online http://www.gate.net/~wyman/flo.html (accessed August 1, 1999).
Federal Judicial Center, Federal Judicial Center Publications http://www.fjc.gov/pubs.html (accessed July 10, 1999).

14. Michigan Child Support Formula Manual.

Cite as [year] MCSF [section number]. Example: 2001 MCSF 208(A).

II. Material Quoted in Opinions
Generally, material quoted in opinions should be reproduced exactly as it appears in the original source.

Examples:

MCL 769.26 provides:

No judgment or verdict shall be set aside or reversed or a new trial be granted by any court of this state in any criminal case, on the ground of misdirection of the jury, or the improper admission or rejection of evidence, or for any error as to any matter of pleading or procedure, unless in the opinion of the court, after an examination of the entire cause, it shall affirmatively appear that the error complained of resulted in a miscarriage of justice. [Emphasis added.]

As this Court has noted,

[t]he measure of control exercised in connection with the prevention and detection of crime and prosecution and punishment of criminals is set forth in the statutes of the State pertaining thereto, particularly the penal code and the code of criminal procedure. The powers of the courts with reference to such matters are derived from the statutes. [People v. Piasecki, 333 Mich 122, 143; 52 NW2d 626 (1952).]

A. Case Law.

1. Where available, official sources should be quoted. (N.B.: the official opinions of the Michigan Supreme Court are published in the Michigan Reports
[Mich], not the North Western Reporter or Michigan Reporter [NW2d]; the official opinions of the United States Supreme Court are published in the United States Reports [US], not the Supreme Court Reporter [S Ct], the United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition [L Ed, L Ed 2d], or United States Law Week
[USLW].)
2. Published opinions of Michigan, federal, or foreign courts should be quoted exactly, except that a parallel citation or year of decision must be added with brackets if missing from the quoted material.

Examples:

In 378 Mich 195, the following citation appears:

Brown v. City of Highland Park (1948), 320 Mich 108.
If the paragraph containing the citation is quoted in a current opinion, it should appear as:
Brown v. City of Highland Park (1948), 320 Mich 108 [ 30 NW2d 798]. (N.B.: A parallel citation has been added.)
In 199 Mich 316, “Jones v. Berkey, 181 Mich. 472
(148 N.W. 375),” should be quoted:
Jones v. Berkey, 181 Mich. 472 (148 N.W. 375) [1914].”

B. Statutes and Administrative Rules. These should be quoted exactly as they appear in printed form, not off a website. If it appears that the text of a statute or rule contains an error, “[sic]” should be inserted in the text immediately following the error.

C. Punctuation in Quoted Material.

1. Colons and semicolons. Colons and semicolons that are not part of the original quoted material are placed outside quotation marks.
2. Question marks and exclamation points. Placement of question marks and exclamation points depends on their relation to the material quoted. The mark is placed inside quotation marks where it applies only to the material quoted, and outside where it applies to the entire sentence.

Examples:

The witness responded, “I saw him do it!”

Why did you respond, “I saw him do it”?

3. Quotation marks. A quotation within a quotation is enclosed in single quotation marks.
E.g., “Unless the legislation creates a `lassification scheme,’ or `mpinges upon the exercise of a fundamental right,’ it is `ccorded a presumption of constitutionality, and is reviewed by applying a rational basis standard.'” Brown v. Manistee Co Rd Comm, 452 Mich 354, 361-362; 550 NW2d 215 (1996), quoting Doe v. Dep’t of Social Services, 439 Mich 650, 662; 487 NW2d 166 (1992).

D. Deletions in Quoted Materials (Ellipses).

1. Within a sentence. To delete material within a sentence, insert three periods (ellipses) and four spaces:

“Insanity . . . is an extreme of mental illness.”

(Note: Ellipses without spaces are incorrect. “Insanity . . . is an extreme. . . .”)
2. At end of a sentence. To delete material at the end of a sentence, insert three periods and four spaces before the terminal punctuation:
“To put it alternatively, the statutes provide that all insane people are mentally ill. . . .”

The Court: Well, what was this thing . . .?”

3. Following a sentence/between sentences. To delete material after a complete sentence or between complete sentences, insert three periods and three spaces after the terminal punctuation:
Insanity by definition is an extreme of mental illness. . . . To put it alternatively, the statutes provide that all insane people are mentally ill but not all mentally ill people are insane.
Insanity by definition is an extreme of mental illness. . . . [T]he law provides that criminal responsibility does not attach.
Note that the “t” in the final sentence, lower case in the original, is capitalized in brackets [T] because the material remaining after deletion can be read as a complete sentence.
4. At the middle of a sentence. No ellipses are required where a quotation begins in the middle of a sentence and:
a) the fragment quoted completes an original sentence and begins with a lower case letter:
E.g.: When a person is found to be insane, “the law provides that criminal responsibility does not attach.”

b) a capital letter is inserted in brackets:

E.g.: The lead opinion in Fultz noted, “[A]ll insane people are mentally ill but not all mentally ill people are insane.”
5. Internal punctuation in original. Internal punctuation should be retained only where required for clarity:
“When a person’s mental illness reaches that extreme, . . . criminal responsibility does not attach.” (The comma in the original is retained.)

but:

“Defendant . . . admitted doing the particular act, but also stated that he was insane.” (Punctuation in the deleted material is not retained.)
6. At the end of a paragraph. Where material is deleted at the end of a paragraph and the next paragraph immediately follows, insert three periods and three spaces after the terminal punctuation of the first paragraph:
Furthermore, defendant’s account of what transpired was clearly in accord with the psychiatric evaluation in that defendant admitted committing the act but stated that he could not help what he was doing. . . .
The Court: Well, what was this thing that came over you?
7. Between paragraphs. Where one or more paragraphs are deleted between quoted paragraphs, insert three asterisks (centered) and two blank lines between the paragraphs quoted:
So, just as a finding of no insanity is essential for an adjudication of guilt by trial, we hold such a finding to be equally essential for a plea of guilty. Such a finding was not made in the instant case and the plea for that reason is invalid.

* * *

Lastly, as we find the plea to be invalid for the aforestated reasons, it is unnecessary to address the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

E. Italics. Italics should be used only in the following instances:

1. case names: People v. Smith,

2. supra, id., infra, ante, post, et seq.,

3. words the author wishes to emphasize,

4. where italics are used in the material quoted,

5. unfamiliar foreign words and phrases or longer Latin “legal” phrases. E.g.:

Italicize:

expressio unius est exclusio alterius and en ventre sa mere, etc.,

but not:

de novo, arguendo, sua sponte, etc. (Check Black’s Law Dictionary [8th ed] for guidance.)

Italicize:

Nec flectitur, nec mutant; hötel de ville; die Weltanschauung, etc.,

but not:

vis-à-vis; quid pro quo; der Bundestag; Arc de Triomphe; etc. (Check the Random House Dictionary for guidance.)
6. In titles of nonlegal books, law review articles, and ALR annotations.

7. The following should not be italicized:

abbreviations (e.g., i.e., viz., N.B., etc.); signals (see, see also, compare . . . with); later history of cases (cert den, lv den, aff’d);
8. When quoting from trial or other transcripts italicize:
a) “Q.” and “A.” (Do not use: “Q: ” or “A:”)

Examples:

Q. Were you on Oakland Avenue on the date in question?

A. No, sir.”

b) Names or titles of the speakers:

The Court: Mr. Smith (attorney for the defense): The Defendant:

F. Quoting a Footnote.

1. If material quoted contains a footnote that is to be included in the quotation, use the same footnote numbering as the original and add the footnote at the end of the block of quoted material, separated from the main quotation by lines from margin to margin above and below the footnote. For clarity, where possible, put the citation in the opinion text before beginning the block quotation.

Example:

A discussion of presumptions and their effect upon the burden of producing evidence appears in In re Wood Estate, 374 Mich 278, 289; 132 NW2d 35; 54 ALR3d 1 (1965):
“The immediate legal effect of a presumption is procedural it shifts the burden of going forward with the evidence relating to the presumed fact.5 Once there is a presumption that fact C is true, the opposing party must produce evidence tending to disprove either facts A and B or presumed fact C; if he fails to do so, he risks jury instruction that they must presume fact C to have been established.
“5 Baker v. Delano, 191 Mich 204, 208 [157 NW 427 (1916)], citing 1 Elliott on Evidence, § 91: “`The office or effect of a true presumption is to cast upon the party against whom it works the duty of going forward with evidence.'”
The thrust of the Wood case was to change the law in this state concerning the effect that a presumption was after rebuttal evidence has been introduced.
2. Where footnotes appear in the original source, but are not material to the purpose for which the text is quoted, footnote numbers in the text should be deleted without ellipses. Do not add “(footnotes deleted)” at the end of the quotation!

G. Placement of Citation. A citation indicating the source of a block quotation generally should be supplied in the text preceding the quotation.

Example:

The Equal Protection Clause, US Const, Am XIV, § 5, provides:
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
A citation may follow the quotation in the block, immediately after the quoted material, without additional separation, followed by a period and enclosed in brackets.

The no-fault insurance act provides, in part:

An agreement for assignment of a right to benefits payable in the future is void. [MCL 500.3143.]

H. Parentheses and Brackets.

1. Use Parentheses ():

a) To set off short, supplementary, parenthetic, or explanatory material when the interruption is more marked than that usually indicated by commas and when the inclusion of such material does not essentially alter the meaning of the sentence.
The work (he was preeminently fitted for it) absorbed his attention for weeks.
The cost of living (see chart II) has risen slowly but surely.
b) To enclose figures or letters used in enumerations.
The immediate results were these: (1) a cornering of the market; (2) a decrease in available material; (3) an advance in prices.
(N.B.: Parentheses postpone punctuation. No punctuation immediately precedes parentheses, except when a sentence ends with a period and the next sentence is in parentheses.)

2. Use brackets :

a) To enclose explanatory remarks, extraneous data, editorial interpolations, or additional citations within quoted passages or a citation following a block quotation where no quotation marks are used:

Example:

There is no doubt that the April 23, 1973 finding was that defendant was guilty of civil contempt. Judge O’Hair specifically told the defendant that she would be jailed until she purged herself. She therefore was able to “carry the `keys of [the] prison in [her] own pocket’ [and] the action is essentially civil.” People v. Goodman, 17 Mich App 175, 177; 169 NW2d 120
(1969).
If one substitutes “warehouse owner, lessee or operator” for” consignee,” then the exclusion would read “no portion of any premises owned or leased or operated by a [warehouse owner, lessee or operator] shall be deemed to be a public warehouse.” The expansive meaning sought by the city does not work unless there can be a consignor without a consignee.
The proscription of “unreasonable searches and seizures” and the warrant requirement
“must be read in light of `the history that gave rise to the words’ a history of `abuses so deeply felt by the Colonies as to be one of the potent causes of the Revolution. . . .’ [United States v. Rabinowitz], 339 US [56], 69 [70 S Ct 430; 94 L Ed 653 (1950)]. The amendment was in large part a reaction to the general warrants and warrantless searches that had so alienated the colonists and had helped speed the movement for independence.”
b) To indicate a change in capitalization to conform to the sense of the context in quoted source material.

Example:

[W]e cannot agree that the Fourth Amendment interests at stake in these [administrative] inspection cases are merely “peripheral.” It is surely anomalous to say that the individual and his private property are fully protected by the Fourth Amendment only when the individual is suspected of criminal behavior.
c) To indicate a misspelled or misused word in the text accompanied by the word “sic.”

Example:

Any person who shall commit the offense of larceny, by steeling [sic], shall be guilty of a felony. . . .

d) To function as parentheses within parentheses.

Example:

The statute (MCL 418.551[2]) provides. . . .

e) Use empty brackets to indicate deletion of a letter or letters where, for example, the plural in quoted material is to be rendered in the singular.

Example:

“actions” becomes “action.”

APPENDIX A. STATE ABBREVIATIONS

Ala Ky ND Alas La Ohio Ariz Me Okla Ark Md Or Cal Mass Pa Colo Mich RI Conn Minn SC Del Miss SD DC Mo Tenn Fla Mont Tex Ga Neb Utah Hawaii Nev Vt Idaho NH Va Ill NJ Wash Ind NM W Va Iowa NY Wis Kan NC Wy

APPENDIX B. COURTS NO LONGER PUBLISHING OFFICIAL REPORTS State Last Volume Last Year

Alabama 295 1976 Alabama Appeals 57 1976 Alaska 17 1958 Arizona Appeals 27 1976 Colorado 200 1980 Colorado Appeals 44 1980 Delaware 59 1966 Delaware Chancery 43 1966 Florida 160 1948 Indiana 275 1981 Indiana Appeals 182 1981 Iowa 261 1968 Kentucky 314 1951 Louisiana 263 1972 Louisiana Appeals 19 1932 Maine 161 1965 Minnesota 312 1977 Mississippi 254 1966 Missouri 365 1956 Missouri Appeals 241 1955 North Dakota 79 1953 Oklahoma 208 1953 Oklahoma Criminal Appeals 97 1953 Rhode Island 122 1980 South Dakota 90 1976 Tennessee 225 1971 Tennessee Appeals 63 1971 Tennessee Civil Appeals 8 1918 Texas 163 1962 Texas Criminal Appeals 172 1963 Texas Civil Appeals 63 1911 Utah 30 Utah 2d 1974
Wyoming 80 1959

APPENDIX C. ABBREVIATIONS
——————————————————— | Name Abbreviation | |———————————————————| | Administration, Administrative Admin | | And | | Associates Assoc | | Association Ass’n | | Assistant Asst | | Authority Auth | | Board Bd | | Brothers Bros | | Building Bldg | | Casualty Cas | | Center Ctr | | Chemical Chem | | Commission Comm | | Committee Comm | | Commissioner(s) Comm’r(s) | | Company(ies) Co(s) | | County(ies) Co(s) | | Condominium Condo | | Construction Constr | | Cooperative Coop | | Corporation Corp | | Department Dep’t | | Development Dev | | District Dist | | Division Div | | Education, Educational Ed | | Equipment Equip | | Exchange Exch | | Federal Fed | | General Gen | | Government Gov’t | | Heights Hts | | Highway Hwy | | Hospital Hosp | | Incorporated Inc | | Insurance Ins | | International Int’l | | Limited Ltd | | Management Mgt | | Manufacturing Mfg | | Memorial Mem | | Metropolitan Metro | | Municipal Muni | | Mutual Mut | | National Nat’l | | Number No | | Organization Org | | Property Prop | | Public Pub | | Railroad, Railway R | | Road Rd | | Savings and Loan SL | | System Sys | | Telephone, Telegraph Tel | | Telecommunication(s) Telecom | | Township Twp | | University Univ | ———————————————————