Tony Mauro

May 20, 2004 | Law.com

Nearly two years after ruling in Atkins v. Virginia that executing mentally retarded death row inmates is unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court is faced with a case asking how much proof of retardation a defendant must provide. At issue is a Georgia Supreme Court decision upholding a state law that requires proof "beyond a reasonable doubt." The Court will consider this and other cases up for review at its private conference today.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

September 22, 2009 | The Legal Intelligencer

On May 18, the U.S. Supreme Court gave corporate defendants a gift that keeps on giving: the Iqbal decision, which has made it easier than ever for defendants to shut down lawsuits before they get to the costly discovery stage.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

March 22, 2006 | National Law Journal

In a dispute that tests the scope of patentability, the Supreme Court seemed reluctant Tuesday to decide a key case in a way that would establish what Justice Stephen Breyer called "monopolies in this country beyond belief" over naturally occurring phenomena. Laboratory Corp. of America v. Metabolite could help resolve a festering legal debate over whether a basic scientific phenomenon can be patented -- and, by extension, whether business strategies or other less tangible creations can be patented.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

June 21, 2005 | The Legal Intelligencer

If Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is in the market for a U.S. Supreme Court nominee anytime soon and his thoughts turn to appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, he won't have to look far to find people who will sing Luttig's praises.

By Tony Mauro

9 minute read

September 30, 2004 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday added eight new cases to its docket, including a major land use dispute that could make it more difficult for government to take private property by eminent domain for economic development purposes.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

October 25, 2010 | Law.com

Isaac Lidsky, an associate in the New York office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, is blind, but that didn't stop him from fulfilling a lifelong dream to clerk at the Supreme Court. And with some help, especially on the technical side, he has done a full range of client work at Akin Gump.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

April 13, 2011 | National Law Journal

Befitting the broad scope of the case, American Electric Power Co., et al. v. Connecticut, et al. has attracted a large number of amicus curiae briefs — 23 on the side of the power companies, and nine for the states and private entities suing the utilities.

By Tony Mauro

2 minute read

October 05, 2004 | Law.com

On the first day of its fall term, the Supreme Court appeared to be poised to find the 17-year-old federal sentencing guideline system unconstitutional. The court had expedited arguments in two cases that posed the question of Blakely�s impact on the federal system. But judging by the tenor of the arguments Monday afternoon, most justices seemed almost to assume that Blakely applies to the federal guidelines. The The focus instead was on what happens next and how large the impact will be.

By Tony Mauro

7 minute read

September 27, 2004 | The Recorder

The U.S. Supreme Court returns to the bench Oct. 4 and almost immediately will set about cleaning up the chaos it created in the federal sentencing system in June before it left for its summer recess. In a rare two-hour afternoon session that Monday, the court will hear arguments in United States v. Booker and United States v. Fanfan, added to its docket in the aftermath of its June 24 decision in Blakely v. Washington, which struck down a sentencing system similar to the federal one.

By Tony Mauro

10 minute read

November 09, 2006 | The Recorder

The Supreme Court, including Justice Anthony Kennedy, focused on medical details surrounding so-called partial-birth abortion during opening arguments in two cases challenging the ban of the controversial procedure.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read