The Supreme Court's decision on health care yesterday was just one of several handed down this week. The justices also struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles, citing cruel and unusual punishment.
LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:
There are more than 2,000 inmates serving mandatory life sentences for crimes they committed as minors. The high court said judges should be allowed to consider mitigating factors such as a young defendant's immaturity or the circumstances of his or her upbringing.
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne. The Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Obama's health care law defied many predictions: the outcome, the legal grounds, and the makeup of the court majority. For Chief Justice John Roberts, his definitive court opinion was either a triumph of judicial restraint, or a sellout, depending on who you talk to.
Just last week, Republican leaders were warning their rank and file not to gloat if the health care law were overturned. Well, after the decision came yesterday, GOP leaders regrouped and vowed to keep fighting. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.
ANDREA SEABROOK, BYLINE: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor stepped up to the microphone.
REPRESENTATIVE ERIC CANTOR: If for nothing else, today's health care decision underscores the importance of this election.
The Supreme Court's decision removes much of the uncertainty for businesses involved in health care. Renee Montagne talks to Karen Ignani of America's Health Insurance Plans, the insurance industry's trade group, about the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling on the health care law.
Bishop Ricardo Ramirez's grandmother lived a long and full life. But it was the way Francisca Espitia approached her final years that may have impressed her grandson the most.
Ramirez, 75, recently visited StoryCorps to remember his grandmother, whom he called Panchita, in a family story that begins in 1981. That's when he was elevated to bishop in the church. The occasion called for a reception — so Ramirez called his grandmother.