How do you cite a public law number (Pub. L.)?

• A. Pub. L. No. [Number], [Stat. citation] (Year).
• B. Pub. L. No. [Number], [Stat. Citation] (Year).
• C. Pub. L. [Number], [Stat. citation] (Year).
• D. Pub. L. No. [Number], [Stat. citation] (Year).

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how to format a federal statute by referencing its Public Law number along with its location in the Statutes at Large. In Bluebook style, you start with Pub. L. No., then the public law number (the Congress number and bill number), followed by a comma and the Statutes at Large citation (the volume and page), and end with the year in parentheses. This pairing ties the enacted text to both its official Public Law designation and its place in the Statutes at Large. For example, a correct citation would look like Pub. L. No. 111-5, 123 Stat. 4 (2009). The year in parentheses marks when the law was enacted.

The essential point is including “No.” after Pub. L. to identify the specific Public Law, and then providing the corresponding Stat. citation. Variations that drop “No.” or alter capitalization and formatting would not conform to the standard.