Tony Mauro

June 20, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

After nearly 20 years of appeals, Texas death row inmate Thomas Miller-El persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court on June 13 to overturn his conviction because of the racial bias that tainted the selection of the jury in his murder trial.

By Tony Mauro, Miriam Rozen and John Council

11 minute read

January 20, 2000 | Law.com

The Supreme Court appeared ready during oral arguments Wednesday to strike down Colorado's "bubble zone" law restricting aggressive demonstrations around abortion clinics and other health care facilities. But if the law goes down, credit a creative hypothetical from Justice Anthony Kennedy for its demise, more than any lawyer's oral advocacy.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

February 09, 2004 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Feb. 4 reaffirmation of its ruling in favor of same-sex marriage touched off a new wave of celebration among civil rights advocates that began last June with the U.S. Supreme Court's gay rights decision in Lawrence v. Texas.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

April 17, 2006 | Law.com

Any self-respecting lawyer has probably said it, or at least thought it: "No one can represent my client better than I can." On Tuesday the Supreme Court takes up a case that could enshrine that conceit in constitutional law, considering whether and to what extent a paying defendant has an enforceable Sixth Amendment right to the lawyer of his or her choice. The briefs on the defendant's side praise the special quality of individual lawyers -- insisting they are not fungible like eggs or oranges.

By Tony Mauro

9 minute read

June 29, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bilski v. Kappos issued Monday may have done little to end the debate over what kinds of innovations are or are not eligible for patents. The long-awaited decision was supposed to resolve the patent eligibility of business methods or processes that are not tied to a new machine or don't transform anything. But while rejecting one such patent, it did not rule out method patents in general, underlining that it "need not define further what constitutes a patentable process" beyond looking to guideposts provided by past U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

September 20, 2006 | New York Law Journal

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

November 03, 2009 | National Law Journal

Under federal law dating back to 1802, one way for a case to wind up before the Supreme Court is for a federal appeals court to certify a question to the justices. It has never been a frequently traveled path to the high court, but it has been allowed from time to time -- though not since 1981. On Monday the justices rejected such a request by the 5th Circuit to resolve a statute-of-limitations issue that could affect prosecution of long-ago civil rights cases in the South.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

May 28, 2008 | The Recorder

The Supreme Court ruled in two workplace discrimination cases, making it easier for workers to sue employers over retaliation.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

October 15, 2009 | National Law Journal

All the Supreme Court justices are lawyers, but most showed little empathy for their fellow attorneys on Wednesday as they debated whether legal fee awards can be enhanced for superior performance or exceptional results under a federal fee-shifting statute. Civil rights groups assert that the prospect of enhanced fees is necessary to attract quality representation in the litigation they pursue. But several justices seemed more worried about high legal fees than encouraging lawyers to do public-minded work.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

March 27, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

When the Supreme Court hears arguments this week in a landmark dispute over executive power in wartime, the Bush administration will be outnumbered - if not outgunned.

By Tony Mauro

9 minute read