Assoc. Dean Amar Comments on Prop 8 for KQED
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented for a news report on public radio station KQED on the ongoing legal battle over Proposition 8. The initiative banned same-sex marriage in California, but was overturned in federal court. Neither California's governor nor attorney general chose to defend the measure, but sponsors appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has asked for guidance from the California Supreme Court as to whether they have standing under state law to appeal the decision. Amar said that if the California Supreme Court holds that initiative sponsors don't have standing under state law, the federal court would be likely to accept that and the appeal would die. Prop. 8 backers could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which would probably not hear the case, he said.
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.