Tony Mauro

December 09, 2015 | Supreme Court Brief

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. was clearly impatient during oral arguments Wednesday in the latest case challenging affirmative action in higher education.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

December 08, 2015 | Supreme Court Brief

The U.S. Supreme Court took note of a rare occurrence on Monday: a confession of error by the solicitor general. Such confessions take place only a couple of times a term, when the solicitor general disavows a position taken at earlier stages of a case and tells the justices that he or she should have lost instead of winning.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

December 08, 2015 | Law.com

Almost a full year after Nebraska and Oklahoma sued Colorado over its legalization of marijuana, the litigation is languishing on the U.S. Supreme Court's docket as it awaits the views of the Obama administration. The unusual lawsuit, which invokes the high court's "original jurisdiction" over disputes between states, was filed last year on Dec. 18 last year. More than seven months ago, the justices on May 4 invited U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. to file a brief in the case. The average wait time for the most recent invited briefs submitted by the solicitor general's office was roughly four months.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

December 08, 2015 | Law.com

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday did not appear ready to completely discard the traditional way of drawing legislative districts nationwide, as it heard arguments in a Texas case that could recast thousands of electoral maps. The case before the court, Evenwel v. Abbott, is a challenge by two Texas voters claiming that legislative districts should be drawn so that they contain roughly equal numbers of eligible voters—not just equal numbers of people.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

December 08, 2015 | Supreme Court Brief

The U.S. Supreme Court took note of a rare occurrence on Monday: a confession of error by the solicitor general. Such confessions take place only a couple of times a term, when the solicitor general disavows a position taken at earlier stages of a case and tells the justices that he or she should have lost instead of winning.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

December 08, 2015 | National Law Journal

Almost a full year after Nebraska and Oklahoma sued Colorado over its legalization of marijuana, the litigation is languishing on the U.S. Supreme Court's docket as it awaits the views of the Obama administration. The unusual lawsuit, which invokes the high court's "original jurisdiction" over disputes between states, was filed last year on Dec. 18 last year. More than seven months ago, the justices on May 4 invited U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. to file a brief in the case. The average wait time for the most recent invited briefs submitted by the solicitor general's office was roughly four months.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

December 08, 2015 | National Law Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday did not appear ready to completely discard the traditional way of drawing legislative districts nationwide, as it heard arguments in a Texas case that could recast thousands of electoral maps. The case before the court, Evenwel v. Abbott, is a challenge by two Texas voters claiming that legislative districts should be drawn so that they contain roughly equal numbers of eligible voters—not just equal numbers of people.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

December 07, 2015 | Supreme Court Brief

Amid the renewed debate over gun control prompted by the San Bernardino shootings on Dec. 2, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday not to join the discussion.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

December 07, 2015 | National Law Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied review of a closely watched gun rights case over the strong objection of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. In a rare dissent from denial of review in Friedman v. City of Highland Park, Illinois, Thomas scolded lower federal courts—including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which ruled in the case—for misinterpreting the high court's 2008 decision that declared an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.

By Marcia Coyle and Tony Mauro

3 minute read

December 07, 2015 | Supreme Court Brief

Amid the renewed debate over gun control prompted by the San Bernardino shootings on Dec. 2, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday not to join the discussion.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read