Which Way Will the Supreme Court Go with the Healthcare Law?
Host:
Produced by:
Subscribe to this Podcast:
Listen to/Watch entire show:
The oral arguments are over and the speculation has already begun: does the Affordable Care Act have a future? What are the potential consequences for the law, the health system and the race for president? Also, the Trayvon Martin case has raised the issue of racial bias — conscious and otherwise -- in America's justice system. Why do we imprison more people that any place else in the world? Why are 60 percent black or Hispanic?
Banner image: The west front of the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Main Topic
Supreme Court Justices Weigh Future of Healthcare Law ()
Whatever its ultimate ruling in June may be, the US Supreme Court made history this week. It's taken two years for the Affordable Care Act to reach the Court, which is lightening speed by normal standards. After three days of arguments, the fate of President Obama's most important legislative achievement is very much up in the air. Will the Supreme Court throw out the "mandate" to buy insurance? What about requirements already in effect, like insurance despite pre-existing conditions? What's the potential impact on this year's presidential election?
Guests:
- Adam Liptak: New York Times, @adamliptak
- Jeffrey Rosen: George Washington University
- Jeffrey Young: Huffington Post, @jeffreyyoung_hc
- Matt Viser: Boston Globe, @mviser
Links:
- Liptak on the viability of the ACA without the individual mandate
- Rosen on the ACA and Chief Justice Roberts' 'moment of truth'
- Young on the 'death spiral' of the ACA without the mandate
- Viser on ramifications of Supreme Court ruling on the presidential campaign
- Rosen on the 'tangle of constitutional positioning' in the ACA at the Supreme Court
Reporter's Notebook
Racial Bias and America's Mass Incarceration ()
New facts are emerging in the case of Trayvon Martin, and the full story may never be known. But important questions are being raised about America's justice system. The United States has more people in prison than any place else in the world. Even televangelist Pat Robertson says we have too many people in prison, seven to 10 times as many proportionally as other developed countries. Sixty percent are black or Hispanic. We hear about violent crime, the war on drugs, and unconscious racial bias in the justice system.
Guests:
- Marc Mauer: Sentencing Project
- James Forman, Jr: Yale Law School
- Deborah Ramirez: Northeastern University School of Law, @NUSL
Links:
- Sentencing Project on reducing racial disparity in the judicial system
- Mauer's 'Race to Incarcerate'
- Forman on the racial critiques of mass incarceration
- Ramirez's testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
- Ramirez the posthumous profiling and the Trayvon Martin case
Engage & Discuss
Further the conversation with your thoughts and comments. Agree, disagree, present a different perspective -- engage.
For information and guidelines click: Terms of Service | Privacy Policy
Please note, comments are moderated. KCRW reserves the right to edit and or remove posts deemed off-topic, abusive or not in accordance with KCRW's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
