Legal briefs and legal literature commonly use abbreviations as a shorthand way of referring to sources.
A typical source abbreviation looks like this:
127 S. Ct. 336
127 is the volume number
S. Ct. (or Supreme Court Reporter) is the source
336 is the first page
A reference to a law looks just a little different:
2 USC 381
2 is the title
USC (or U.S. Code) is the source
381 is the section
Here are the abbreviations for some common legal resources:
ALR | American Law Reports |
AmJur2d | American Jurisprudence 2nd ed. |
CFR | Code of Federal Regulations |
CJS | Corpus Juris Secundum |
F2d, F3d | Federal Reporter 2nd Series, 3rd Series |
FR | Federal Register |
FSupp | Federal Supplement |
LEd2d | U.S. Supreme Court Reports. Lawyer's ed. |
S CT | Supreme Court Reporter |
Stat | U.S. Statutes at Large |
US | U.S. Reports |
USC | U.S. Code |
USCS | U.S. Code Service |
Va | Virginia Reports |
Va Cir | Va. Circuit Court Opinions |