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TRANSCRIPT & AUDIO: Supreme Court: The Health Care Law And Medicaid Expansion

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Originally published on Wed April 11, 2012 3:17 pm

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Listen to Wednesday Afternoon's Supreme Court arguments

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard the last of three days of oral arguments on the fate of President Obama's health care law. A transcript of Wednesday afternoon's arguments, as prepared by the court, follows.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: We will continue argument this afternoon in case 11-400 Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Clement. ORAL ARGUMENT OF PAUL D. CLEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER MR. CLEMENT: Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court:

1:40 pm

Wed March 28, 2012

Pope Meets Fidel Castro, Wraps Up Visit To Cuba

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Credit Osservatore Romano / AP

Pope Benedict meets with Fidel Castro in Havana on Wednesday as he wraps up his three-day visit to Cuba. A large crowd turned out for the Mass, though the pope did not meet with dissidents.

Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP

Pope Benedict arrives in Havana's Revolution Square for an open-air Mass on Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands attended on the final day of the pope's visit to Cuba.

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In the last public event of his three-day visit to the island, Pope Benedict XVI called on Cuba, and the world, to change and choose a path of "love, reconciliation and brotherhood."

After the Mass, the pontiff met with Fidel Castro for a half-hour before departing for Rome, wrapping up a weeklong trip to Mexico and Cuba.

The pope did not meet with Cuban dissidents during his trip, however, drawing criticism from Castro opponents in Cuba and abroad.

1:08 pm

Wed March 28, 2012

Supreme Court Cheat Sheet Day 3: Scalia Unplugged

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Credit Kevin Dietsch / UPI /Landov

Activists gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the court hears a third day of arguments on President Obama's health care law.

Credit Roger L. Wollenberg / UPI/Landov

There are no cameras allowed in arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court, but Justice Antonin Scalia was captured on film when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 5, 2011.

By Liz Halloran

On the final morning of its three-day health care law extravaganza, the U.S. Supreme Court wrestled with the question of whether parts of the 2010 federal statute can survive if the justices strike down its central tenet: the individual insurance requirement.

In other words, if the nine justices find the insurance mandate unconstitutional when they rule by June, would that mean that the entire law also fails the constitutionality test?

1:02 pm

Wed March 28, 2012

Sign Of The (Wisconsin) Times: Gov. Scott Walker For President

Credit Don Gonyea / NPR

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's future is a bigger deal to many in his state than Tuesday's presidential primary.

By Frank James

There's a Republican presidential primary next Tuesday in Wisconsin. But as the accompanying photo taken by NPR political correspondent Don Gonyea in Delafield, Wisc. suggests, a lot of Wisconsinites have other political matters on their minds.

As Don writes in an e-mail:

"Note that the recall coming up on June is the big political story here. Not Tuesdays presidential primary."

1:00 pm

Wed March 28, 2012

Decisions, Decisions: How Will The Justices Make Them?

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Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

So what happens now? For a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what the justices do between now and when they issue a ruling, I'm joined by a former Supreme Court clerk. Chris Walker clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy from 2008 to 2009. Chris, welcome to the program.

CHRIS WALKER: Great to be here.

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Judging The Health Care Law

1:54 pm

Wed March 28, 2012