Ohio Citation – Bluebook and Supreme Court Writing Manual
For Ohio legal citation, you may find yourself referring to the Bluebook along with Ohio’s own Supreme Court of Ohio Writing Manual.
Starting with the 22nd edition of the Bluebook, table 1 on U.S. jurisdictions includes an entry for Ohio. This informs you that Ohio adopted a public domain citation format for cases decided after April 30, 2002. It gives an example of the citation format, and directs you to use the 2nd edition of the Supreme Court of Ohio Writing Manual. The Bluebook’s latest edition is a little behind at this point, as the Ohio Supreme Court has published an updated third edition of the Ohio Writing Manual, which should be used.
The Bluebook table 1 for Ohio also helps you with appropriate sources and abbreviations for citations to older caselaw, as well as to Ohio statutes, session laws, and administrative materials.
Ohio has a robust collection of historical case reporters that you’ll see listed in table 1. Nisi Prius Reports or Tappen’s Reports anyone?
