Tony Mauro

November 01, 2006 | Law.com

The Supreme Court's long-awaited oral argument in the "Big Tobacco" punitive damages case appeared to fizzle on Tuesday, with several justices hinting that they'd like to kick the case back to the Oregon Supreme Court for clarification. But there were some signs that if the high court decides to keep the case and rule on it, the justices might be willing to uphold the $79.5 million punitive damages verdict against Philip Morris, in spite of Court precedents that point toward limiting punitive damages.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

July 07, 2005 | Law.com

The Institute for Justice and the Liberty Counsel are both public interest groups that mounted broad-based campaigns to bring seemingly winning issues before a conservative Supreme Court during the just-ended term. For one group, the issue was eminent domain. For the other, it was preserving Ten Commandments displays. Both groups lost when a single justice they had hoped would vote with them defected, turned off by the facts of the cases. The rulings are a testament to the power that one justice can wield.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

September 14, 2006 | Law.com

Starting in October you won't have to be inside the marble chamber of the Supreme Court to gain a same-day understanding of the thrust and parry of a particular oral argument. The Court announced Thursday that it will be posting on its Web site the transcripts of oral arguments on the same day they occur — far faster than the previous practice of releasing them up to two weeks afterward.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

June 21, 2005 | The Recorder

The U.S. Supreme Court expanded its doctrine on the ineffective assistance of counsel, setting aside the death penalty for a Pennsylvania man because his lawyers failed to search files on his past convictions for mitigating evidence.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

June 30, 2010 | The Legal Intelligencer

Prominent tax lawer and professor Martin Ginsburg, husband of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for 56 years, died Sunday at their home in Washington, D.C. Martin Ginsburg, who was 78, died from complications of metastatic cancer, according to an announcement from the Court's public information office. Ginsburg was a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and was of counsel to the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

By Tony Mauro

2 minute read

June 24, 2005 | The Recorder

In a stinging defeat for the property rights movement, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not prevent the government from taking private property by eminent domain and turning it over for another private use.

By Tony Mauro

7 minute read

August 03, 2009 | Law.com

One of the little-known paths a lawyer can take to achieving the goal of arguing before the Supreme Court comes when a party decides it no longer wants to argue in favor of or against a lower court decision that is on appeal. When that happens, half the case falls away, so to speak. The Supreme Court, if it still wants an airing of the issue at stake, then appoints a lawyer to advance the now-orphaned argument. It happens only once a year or so, and it happened again Thursday.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

February 22, 2005 | Law.com

In spite of the quiet manner of John Roberts Jr., his credentials -- former Rehnquist law clerk, deputy solicitor general, top-flight practitioner at Hogan & Hartson, and, in the estimation of some, the finest oral advocate before the high court in the last decade -- are speaking for him and winning fans. Add to that a brief 20-month tenure on the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that provides few targets for Democrats, and Roberts is emerging as a top candidate for the high court.

By Tony Mauro

10 minute read

April 26, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

The Supreme Court appeared wary last Monday of opening the door to retroactive application of its 2002 ruling that said judges, not jurors, should determine the facts that lead to death sentences.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

November 06, 2009 | The Legal Intelligencer

U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared torn Wednesday over whether prosecutors deserve total immunity from lawsuits for their official acts, even when they fabricate evidence in pursuit of a murder indictment and conviction.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read