In a legal citation, what does 'slip op. at 3' indicate in a Supreme Court slip opinion citation?

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Multiple Choice

In a legal citation, what does 'slip op. at 3' indicate in a Supreme Court slip opinion citation?

The main idea is that slip op. refers to the slip opinion—the initial, unreported version of the Supreme Court’s decision released on the day of ruling. When you see “slip op. at 3,” it means you are pinpointing material on page 3 of that slip opinion document, not in the final published reporter. Why this is the best interpretation: the slip opinion is published separately from the official reporter (United States Reports) and uses its own internal pagination. The page number given after “at” in a slip opinion citation points to the exact page within that slip opinion. Once the opinion is later published in the official reporter, the pagination may change, so you’ll often see corresponding citations revised to the official page numbers in subsequent references. This isn’t indicating the page number in United States Reports, which would be the official reporter’s pagination. It isn’t a paragraph number, since citations typically use page numbers unless a paragraph pinpoint is explicitly requested. It isn’t the docket entry year, which is a different part of the citation entirely.

The main idea is that slip op. refers to the slip opinion—the initial, unreported version of the Supreme Court’s decision released on the day of ruling. When you see “slip op. at 3,” it means you are pinpointing material on page 3 of that slip opinion document, not in the final published reporter.

Why this is the best interpretation: the slip opinion is published separately from the official reporter (United States Reports) and uses its own internal pagination. The page number given after “at” in a slip opinion citation points to the exact page within that slip opinion. Once the opinion is later published in the official reporter, the pagination may change, so you’ll often see corresponding citations revised to the official page numbers in subsequent references.

This isn’t indicating the page number in United States Reports, which would be the official reporter’s pagination. It isn’t a paragraph number, since citations typically use page numbers unless a paragraph pinpoint is explicitly requested. It isn’t the docket entry year, which is a different part of the citation entirely.

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