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This week, the big players in American democracy, media players, candidates, politicians, even passionate voters got a lesson in intelligent civic democracy from the quiet intensity of measured debate and smart talk from nine justices and a couple of top notch lawyers. John Hockenberry reflects on the week of debates in the Supreme Court. It wasn't just about the health care law this week, argues Hockenberry. It was the way the Court handled the issue – regardless of your political persuasion. The court made a real point about the value of a civic space free of noise and full of intelligence.

In the biggest Supreme Court cases, Justice Anthony Kennedy, more often that not, is the key swing vote. As the Supreme Court deliberates over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, once again all eyes are on Justice Kennedy. Adam Liptak is the Supreme Court Correspondent for The New York Times.

The Supreme Court has ruled 7-2 that a California law restricting the purchase of violent videogames by minors represents a breach of their First Amendment rights. Members of the U.S. media elite know that the impetus for this decision is most likely the fact that the current Court is packed with videogame-ophiles.

"We've been regulating campaign contributions since 1907," The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin reminds us at a time when it seems like many of the regulations may be overturned. The Supreme Court has had some flare ups recently over the string of cases brought in front of the court. With Justice Elena Kagan, the Court not only has the largest number of female Justices on board, but also a four to five weighting of Democrat versus Republican appointments. Although the court looks different, says Toobin, the rule of five still applies.

On the one year anniversary of the Citizens United campaign finance decision, the ruling remains as contentious as ever, with efforts under way to alternative mechanisms to fund campaigns, and attempts to change the law itself.

Yesterday the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the biggest work discrimination lawsuit in American history. The suit’s plaintiffs accuse Walmart of having discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women across the country for pay and for promotions. Walmart says the suit has too many aspects to be deemed a single class-action.

Even though the immediate stakes are very high for both the plaintiffs and the defendant in this case, the long-term ramifications of the case could be long lasting, particularly for future class-action lawsuits.

Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate.com, discusses what's coming up on the Supreme Court docket as Elena Kagan joins the bench.

Elena Kagan is inching closer to a full Senate vote on her nomination to the Supreme Court.

Pushing toward an election-year Supreme Court confirmation vote, a polarized Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved Elena Kagan to be the fourth female justice.

Reporter by Marianne McCune and Zila Acosta

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor captured the attention of millions of Americans during her confirmation hearings this week. Twenty-year-old Zila Acosta comes from a part-Puerto Rican, part-Dominican family. Her mother is a ...

Listen to an NPR special about the nomination, including President Obama’s remarks, tonight at 8pm on AM820.

(AP Photo)

From a housing project in the Bronx to the Supreme Court...If confirmed, U.S. 2nd Circuit Judge ...