Associate Dean Amar Cited on Senate Rules in Roll Call
An essay by Associate Dean Vikram Amar on the constitutional principles involved in changing the rules of the U.S. Senate was cited in an article published in the Washington, D.C.-based political newspaper Roll Call.
The article, an op-ed piece by Steven Hill, argues that the "Not only should Obama and Congressional Democrats invoke reconciliation [to pass healthcare reform legislation], they should retire the anti-majoritarian filibuster to the dust bin of history." Hill notes that some believe it would require a 67-vote supermajority to change the Senate rule that established the filibuster, but cites Associate Dean Amar as a legal expert who has concluded that view is incorrect.
Hill quotes from "Constitutional Musings from California on the Filibuster," an essay published on FindLaw.com, in which Associate Dean Amar notes that the rule establishing the filibuster was passed by only a majority, and a bare majority of an earlier Senate cannot legally bind future Senates to a two-thirds vote. To do so, Amar writes, "would be in violation of deep constitutional and American values."
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.