The standard Supreme Court abbreviation is SCOTUS in everyday writing and news coverage, and one of three reporter abbreviations — U.S., S. Ct., or L. Ed. — in formal legal citations. Which one you use depends entirely on where you’re writing. Dropping SCOTUS into a court filing, or citing “U.S.” in a tweet, both read as off-key.
SCOTUS and Where It Belongs
SCOTUS stands for Supreme Court of the United States. The acronym first appeared in print in 1879, in Walter P. Phillips’s The Phillips Telegraphic Code for the Rapid Transmission by Telegraph, a codebook built to shorten messages and cut telegraph costs. POTUS followed about a decade later; FLOTUS didn’t arrive until the 1980s.
Journalists and commentators reach for SCOTUS because it fits headlines and character-limited posts. You will almost never see it in a court filing, a judicial opinion, or a formal brief. It belongs to public discourse. If a judge, law professor, or legal editor will read what you’re writing, use one of the formal abbreviations instead.
The Three Reporter Abbreviations
Every Supreme Court opinion eventually appears in three separate publications, each with its own standard abbreviation. The abbreviation tells the reader exactly where to find the case.
- U.S. is the United States Reports, the official reporter published by the U.S. Government. A citation reads: volume, “U.S.,” starting page, year. For example, Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). Because the reporter name identifies the court, no separate court identifier is needed in the parenthetical.
- S. Ct. is the Supreme Court Reporter, an unofficial reporter published by West. Lawyers cite to S. Ct. when the official U.S. Reports volume hasn’t been published yet, which can take years after a decision comes down.
- L. Ed. and L. Ed. 2d are the Lawyers’ Edition, another unofficial reporter, now published by LexisNexis. “L. Ed.” covers older cases; “L. Ed. 2d” covers the second series.
The hierarchy is straightforward. Cite to U.S. Reports whenever the volume is available. If it isn’t, cite to S. Ct. The Department of Justice’s own citation manual instructs its lawyers to avoid citing the Lawyers’ Edition or United States Law Week when the Supreme Court Reporter is available.1U.S. Department of Justice. OSG Citation Manual
Slip Opinions for Very Recent Decisions
For the newest decisions, neither U.S. Reports nor the Supreme Court Reporter may have published the case yet. In that situation, cite the slip opinion, the version released directly by the Court on decision day. A slip opinion citation includes the case name, docket number, the date in parentheses, and a reference to the slip opinion page. For example: Babbitt v. Youpee, No. 95-1595 (Jan. 21, 1997), slip op. 3.1U.S. Department of Justice. OSG Citation Manual Update the citation once the case appears in a bound reporter.
Capitalizing “the Court”
When you use “the Court” as shorthand for the Supreme Court of the United States, capitalize the “C.” The same rule applies when you name any court in full, and in court documents when referring to the specific court that will receive your filing.2The Bluebook Online. B8 Capitalization When you refer to courts generically (“courts have held that…”), keep it lowercase.
At first mention in any manuscript, spell out the full name: Supreme Court of the United States. After that, “the Court,” “the Supreme Court,” or SCOTUS in less formal writing all work, depending on the publication’s style.
Abbreviating Justice Titles
References to individual justices have their own shorthand. In parenthetical references inside citations, a single justice is identified by last name followed by “J.” — for instance, “Holmes, J.” For multiple justices, the abbreviation becomes “JJ.,” as in “Black & White, JJ.”3The Bluebook Online. B9 Titles of Judges
In running prose, spell the title out: “Justice Story” or “Chief Justice Jay.” The J. and JJ. abbreviations belong only to parentheticals and citation clauses.3The Bluebook Online. B9 Titles of Judges
A Boundary: State High Courts Are Not All “Supreme Courts”
If you’re reaching for a “Supreme Court” abbreviation at the state level, confirm what the state actually calls its highest court before you write anything down. Not every state’s highest court is named the Supreme Court.
- In New York, the highest court is the Court of Appeals. The New York “Supreme Court” is a trial-level court, an arrangement that catches out even practicing lawyers from other states.
- Massachusetts and Maine both call their highest court the Supreme Judicial Court.4Library of Congress. Federal and State Courts – Structure and Interaction
In Bluebook citations, state court decisions include the state abbreviation in the date parenthetical to identify the court, and the Bluebook’s Table T7 lists the court-name abbreviations by jurisdiction. Check the table rather than guessing: the abbreviation for a state’s highest court isn’t always what you’d expect.