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Affirmed, reversed, overruled — whether the case is still good law.
Also known as: Case treatment, Note after a case saying it was overturned
A tag appended to a citation recording what happened to the case afterwards. It is the most consequential element in the whole notation: a case that has been overruled says the opposite of what it appears to say.
A note appended to a citation recording the later treatment of the case: affirmed, reversed, overruled, distinguished, or considered.
A record about how a reference is written, not about what the law says. Nothing here is legal advice.
The distinction that matters most is between reversed and overruled. A case is reversed on appeal in the same proceedings; it is overruled when a different, later case decides the point the other way, and the original judgment stays on the record looking authoritative.
An overruled case reads exactly like a good one. Only the treatment note says otherwise.
Commercial citators exist to attach these signals automatically, and colour-code them — which is why a red flag beside a case in a legal database is a treatment signal and not a formatting choice.
A short italic word after a citation, or in a database a small coloured flag or triangle beside the case name.