on the "newshour" tonight, marcia coyle walks us through the five to three decision and what it means for the larger state-federal battle over immigration policy. >> brown: then, margaret warner has the latest on the arrest of fugitive bosnian serb general ratko mladic, accused of the worst war crimes in europe since world war two. >> woodruff: health correspondent betty ann bowser reports on the growing role of nurse practitioners as primary caregivers. >> in just a few years, 32 million americans who currently have no health insurance are going to be able to buy coverage. and the question is, who's going to take care of them? >> brown: we look at the case of arizona shooting suspect jared loughner, after a federal judge ruled him mentally incompetent to stand trial. >> woodruff: and, we continue our collaboration with "the economist" magazine to highlight the art of filmmaking. tonight: tales of life in north korea from those who have escaped the regime. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i want to know wha

marcia coyle of the "national law journal" was in the courtroom, and joins us now.marcia, this is an old case. what was the original complaint and what were the petitioners asking of the state of california? >> well, ray, this case stems from two class action lawsuits. one filed in 1990 involving substandard care for prisoners suffering from serious mental illnesses. the second lawsuit filed in 2001 generally for deficient medical care for prisoners. the lawsuits claim that these conditions in the prisons violated the 8th amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. >> suarez: justice anthony kennedy was the lead writer on the majority opinion. what did he and the other justices conclude? >> well, the issue before the court was whether a special three-judge court, lower court here, correctly applied the federal prison reform litigation act. the three-judge court here issued an order after finding that the unconstitutional conditions in the prison were the result primarily of overcrowding. justice kennedy in his opinion walked through the analysis that th