Tony Mauro

August 09, 2007 | National Law Journal

Eighteen months into his tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has one small complaint. During oral argument, the Court's junior justice said in a talk on Tuesday at Pepperdine University School of Law, his colleagues are so inquisitive that "it's extremely difficult to get a question in." Describing the Court's internal deliberation process, Alito said the justices speak and cast votes in order of seniority. "By the time they get to me, I'm either irrelevant or very important," he said.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

January 23, 2008 | National Law Journal

This term, grammar knowledge is looming large as a Supreme Court justice skill set. First, the meaning of commas in the Second Amendment emerged as a potentially major factor in deciding a gun case. And Tuesday, in yet another case, grammar played a role in interpreting the statute at issue. A close parsing of the matter may even offer some hints about how the justices will handle the Second Amendment case.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

June 30, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

In a surprising opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court embraced the concept of affirmative action in university admissions, unshackling state law schools in Texas from the Hopwood decision that prevented administrators from considering race as a factor in accepting students.

By Tony Mauro

10 minute read

March 31, 2005 | Law.com

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday opened the door for older workers to bring age discrimination claims against their employers based on disparate impact rather than discriminatory intent. But the court also gave employers the tools to defend against the new type of claims. Advocates for older workers, including the AARP, hailed the 5-3 decision in Smith v. City of Jackson, Miss., as a landmark victory because it is often hard to prove discriminatory intent on the part of employers.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

May 30, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

Ordinarily, the announcement by a law professor that he is not completing the second volume of the third edition of his book would not even merit a yawn. But when that professor is Harvard Law School's liberal lion Laurence Tribe, the book is his famed treatise "American Constitutional Law" and he announces his decision in a letter to a Supreme Court justice, it's 'like George Lucas announcing that he would not finish Episode III.'

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

June 05, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

It's Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's turn to be depicted as a bobblehead doll.

By Tony Mauro ALM Supreme Court Correspondent

2 minute read

July 07, 2004 | The Legal Intelligencer

Just before the U.S. Supreme Court convened for its final sitting of the term on June 29, Solicitor General Theodore Olson was asked how long it would take for him to recover from the defeats the court had handed him the day before on the legal rights of enemy combatants and Guantanamo detainees.

By Tony Mauro

10 minute read

January 15, 2010 | The Legal Intelligencer

By a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed or halted plans to transmit the video and audio of the high-profile federal trial on California's ban on same-sex marriage to other courthouses around the country.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

March 28, 2011 | National Law Journal

The crowded field of law school-based Supreme Court clinics will become even more populous this fall, with the launch of a clinic at George Mason University School of Law in partnership with the D.C. firm Wiley Rein.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

April 21, 2010 | National Law Journal

First Amendment advocates applauded the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday striking down a federal law that made it a crime to create, sell or possess certain depictions of animal cruelty. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., writing for an 8-1 majority, called the law a "criminal prohibition of alarming breadth," and sharply criticized the government's defense of the law. The ruling left open the possibility that a statute narrowly focused on so-called "crush videos" might be found constitutional.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read