Tony Mauro

December 11, 2007 | National Law Journal

In a pair of important decisions Monday, the Supreme Court gave federal trial judges much greater latitude to deviate from federal sentencing guidelines. In one of the decisions, the Court voted 7-2 to allow judges to weigh the controversial disparity between guideline sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses in giving defendants a below-guideline sentence. A separate ruling with potentially broader impact had the same 7-2 lineup of justices.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

April 19, 2006 | Law.com

The question before the Supreme Court at oral argument Tuesday: How important is the right of paying defendants to be represented by the lawyer of their choice? Quite important, bordering on fundamental, seemed to be the answer of most justices, ranging from Antonin Scalia to David Souter. The Court took a rare excursion into examining the merits and foibles of the legal profession in the lively argument -- during which Scalia invoked both the 1992 movie "My Cousin Vinny" and the "Twinkie defense."

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

April 30, 2008 | The Legal Intelligencer

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia may be thriving in the limelight these days, but he has his limits: He's not interested in becoming vice president on Sen. John McCain's ticket.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

July 02, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

At the end of a course-changing, gut-wrenching Supreme Court term littered with heated 5-4 decisions, one bit of clarity is shining through: the Roberts Court, and especially its newest member, Justice Samuel Alito Jr., are both very conservative and very pro-business -- more so than any Supreme Court in decades. More than most novice justices, Alito has taken bullets for business in the term just ended, most notably for his controversial majority opinion in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

November 03, 2009 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared wary Monday of second-guessing the fees that mutual funds pay to the investment advisers who run them.

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

October 06, 2009 | The Recorder

On the first day, the high court debated the value of attorney-client privilege.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read

March 29, 2004 | Law.com

For two days this month, it appeared that several Supreme Court justices were at war with the world outside their marble palace. The events were a reminder that, even as it begins to turn its face to the public in the manner of other modern government institutions, the Supreme Court still thinks of itself as different -- above the fray and even beyond question. Justice Antonin Scalia was the source of the most prominent eruption.

By Tony Mauro

13 minute read

March 03, 2009 | National Law Journal

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant certiorari or review of three petitions involving claims made by American Vietnam War veterans and residents of Vietnam against manufacturers of Agent Orange. Justice John Paul Stevens recused in all three cases, as he has in previous cases involving Agent Orange. Stevens does not explain his recusals, but his son, John Joseph Stevens, was a Vietnam veteran who died of cancer in 1996. Legal Times asked the justice's daughter about the possible connection.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

July 20, 2009 | New York Law Journal

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

May 21, 1999 | Law.com

The Supreme Court is heading into the home stretch -- as in stretch and yawn. The Court's fairly slow pace of decision-making is evidenced by the fact that fully 31 decisions remain outstanding as the Court nears the final month of its term -- nearly 40 percent of the 78 total cases that will have been decided the entire term. The cases still outstanding are among its toughest and most interesting.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read