Citing a single document within a court case file

By rtkoehler on Mon, 05/20/2024 - 10:09

Forums

I am trying to cite to a baptism certificate that was filed to a court case. Assuming the certificate is actually titled "Baptism Certificate," documents the baptism of Mary Jane Public, and was filed with the court on 2/27/2024, here is what I came up with:

case no. XXXX, John Quincy Public vs. Jane Marie Public, "Baptism Certificate [Mary Jane Public]", 27 February 2024

My main question is - each document within this particular court case is assigned a docket item number. Let's say this baptism certificate is docket item 25 within the file. Should this number be included in the citation? And if so, where/how?

Also - if the document did not have a clear title of "Baptism Certificate", how should I describe the document in the  citation?

Submitted byEEon Tue, 05/21/2024 - 10:17

Hello, rtkoehler.  Would you identify the EE edition and section number are you trying to follow for the court case? There are several fundamental issues we need to discuss here.

9.17 (4th edition).

And I apologize I did not include the full citation:

Hillsborough County, Florida, Circuit Civil Case Files, case no. XXXX, John Quincy Public vs. Jane Marie Public, "Baptism Certificate [Mary Jane Public]," 27 February 2024

Hello, rtkoehleron, thanks for the additional info. That helps.  With regard to your two questions:

My main question is - each document within this particular court case is assigned a docket item number. Let's say this baptism certificate is docket item 25 within the file. Should this number be included in the citation? And if so, where/how?

Can you provide a screen clip (SnagIt, or whatever) that shows the part of the document where the number appears--the context. The phrase "docket number" usually has a different meaning from the usage above--although deviations are always possible with historical and legal records. Before I respond to your question, I need to see the context.

Also - if the document did not have a clear title of "Baptism Certificate", how should I describe the document in the  citation?

EE4 2.27 ("Citing Titles: Basic Rules"), last paragraph, states:

UNTITLED, UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT, REGISTER, ETC.
When a narrative manuscript, original document, or record book has no title, you should create your own generic description. You do not place your words in italics, because the item is unpublished. You
do not use quotation marks, because you are not quoting anything.

 

Submitted byrtkoehleron Wed, 05/22/2024 - 07:13

Here is a screenshot of the docket entry. And on review, the identifier is not called a "Docket Number" but rather a "Document Index" number. Each document filed in the case is assigned a "Document Index" number.

Docket

Submitted byEEon Thu, 05/23/2024 - 08:53

rtkoehler, that screenshot does clarify things. A docket number is assigned by the court to the case itself. That number represents the order in which the case will appear on the court's docket.  Within the case file, numbers may (or may not) appear on individual documents.

In your citation, before you use descriptive words for the document, you should state the document number--i.e., doc. no. 24, baptism certificate, Mary Jane Public, 27 February 2024.

For more on court dockets, see https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/what-s-a-court-docket-and-how-do-they-88923/