Assoc. Dean Amar Comments on Prop. 8 Appeal for Bee
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented for the Sacramento Bee on whether California's governor and attorney general can be compelled to file an appeal on behalf of Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban passed by voters in 2008 but overturned by a federal judge in August. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have declined to appeal the decision, prompting conservative groups and Republican lawmakers to argue that Schwarzenegger and Brown had a constitutional responsibility to file a challenge on behalf of state voters.
Associated Dean Amar said that it was unlikely courts would find that Schwarzenegger and Brown had an obligation to appeal. "Separation of powers means that courts usually (with narrow exceptions) don't order executive officials to perform their jobs more vigorously," he said. "Instead, courts rely on the electorate to place political pressure on elected officials. In the end, I think courts will say the remedy against an elected official who won't defend a popular law is political, not judicial."
Vikram Amar, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law with the UC Davis School of Law, is a national authority in the fields of constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, and remedies. His biweekly column for FindLaw.com, a leading provider of online legal information, centers on his expertise in constitutional law.