Tony Mauro

June 26, 2007 | Law.com

In another loss for the Supreme Court's moderate wing, justices declared McCain-Feingold's ban on certain issue ads unconstitutional.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

January 05, 2010 | Law.com

The Green Bag, the unconventional law review, has just announced its "Exemplary Legal Writing" awards for 2009. Among the winners are three Supreme Court justices: Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and now-retired Justice David Souter. Souter's award is perhaps the most notable due to the brevity of what he wrote: a simple and elegant two-sentence concurrence in a mostly overlooked ruling from April.

By Tony Mauro

2 minute read

March 27, 2008 | National Law Journal

When mentally ill defendants are found competent to stand trial, does that also mean they are competent enough to represent themselves in court? The Supreme Court struggled with that question Wednesday during an oral argument that weighed the Sixth Amendment right to self-representation against a state's interest in not having trials "descend into farce." Along the way, some lawyer jokes were also cracked.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

June 30, 2009 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a dramatic ending before it recessed for the summer, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled, 5-4, that the city of New Haven, Conn., violated the civil rights of white and Hispanic firefighters when it tossed out the results of a promotion exam after no African-Americans had passed it.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

May 27, 2011 | New York Law Journal

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

June 15, 2004 | Law.com

Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow's quixotic challenge to the words �under God� in the Pledge of Allegiance came to an end Monday as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that he did not have standing to bring his suit. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, recited Newdow's tangled family history and concluded that Newdow has insufficient standing to raise a constitutional challenge on behalf of his daughter.

By Tony Mauro

7 minute read

January 18, 2007 | National Law Journal

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in three Texas death penalty cases that were billed as a test of wills between the high court and lower court judges who have effectively defied its decisions on the use of mitigating evidence. But whatever anger the Court held toward the lower courts seems to have largely dissipated. Its newest members, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel Alito Jr., appeared ready to give greater deference to Texas in administering its capital punishment laws.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

April 16, 2002 | The Legal Intelligencer

The government`s effort to restrict virtual child pornography, which only appears to depict minors, was swept aside by the Supreme Court yesterday as a First Amendment violation.

By Tony Mauro ALM Supreme Court Correspondent

4 minute read

January 10, 2006 | National Law Journal

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. appeared determined Monday to stay above the fray during his confirmation, implicitly deflecting charges that he is a conservative ideologue by telling the Senate in his opening statement that "a judge can't have any agenda" in resolving cases. But Democrats made it clear that Alito must explain his conservative track record as a judge. "Before we give you the keys to the car, we would like to know where you plan to take us," said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

September 28, 2000 | Law.com

Arguing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court has always been the Matterhorn of the legal profession -- and it's getting steeper. The Court's plummeting docket and intense questioning from the bench have combined to change advocacy before the nation's highest court. Enter: the Supreme Court specialists, a veteran group of mostly white, male lawyers who are, in essence, the sherpas of the Matterhorn-turned-Everest.

By Tony Mauro

16 minute read