Assoc. Dean Amar Comments on Prop. 8 Trial for KCBS, KPPC, Bee
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented on the federal court challenge to California's Proposition 8 for media including radio station KCBS in San Francisco, Los Angeles-area NPR affiliate KPPC, and the Sacramento Bee. Dean Amar discussed closing arguments in the trial, which challenges the constitutionality of Prop. 8's same-sex marriage ban.
In the Bee article, Dean Amar outlined legal issues underlying U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's questioning of the trial attorneys. Judge Walker has pressed the defendants to show why the government should keep marriage limited to a man and a woman, asking them what society has to lose by extending that right to same-sex couples. The plaintiffs, Dean Amar said, are working to "overcome the novelty" of gay marriage as an institution and convince the judge that barring gays from marriage violates a fundamental right. Fundamental to the debate is the question of whether gays suffer discrimination to such a degree that the court should protect them, Dean Amar 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.