What punctuation separates the main U.S. Reports citation from the parallel citation to the Supreme Court Reporter?

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Multiple Choice

What punctuation separates the main U.S. Reports citation from the parallel citation to the Supreme Court Reporter?

When a case is cited with parallel references to more than one reporter, the two source citations are separated by a semicolon. The first part gives the official U.S. Reports citation, and the following part provides the parallel citation to the Supreme Court Reporter (and any other parallel reporters, if listed). The semicolon makes it clear that these are two different publications pointing to the same decision, not components of a single reporter citation. For example, you’d see something like the case cited as 347 U.S. 483; 74 S. Ct. 283, 98 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1954). Here the semicolon marks the transition from the official U.S. Reports citation to the parallel S. Ct. citation, helping the reader locate the case in either reporter. Commas, periods, or colons wouldn’t clearly separate these parallel sources in the same way, which is why the semicolon is the correct punctuation.

When a case is cited with parallel references to more than one reporter, the two source citations are separated by a semicolon. The first part gives the official U.S. Reports citation, and the following part provides the parallel citation to the Supreme Court Reporter (and any other parallel reporters, if listed). The semicolon makes it clear that these are two different publications pointing to the same decision, not components of a single reporter citation.

For example, you’d see something like the case cited as 347 U.S. 483; 74 S. Ct. 283, 98 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1954). Here the semicolon marks the transition from the official U.S. Reports citation to the parallel S. Ct. citation, helping the reader locate the case in either reporter. Commas, periods, or colons wouldn’t clearly separate these parallel sources in the same way, which is why the semicolon is the correct punctuation.

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