Associate Dean Amar Comments on Health Care Challenges for AirTalk
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented on the legal challenges to health care reforms recently passed by Congress for AirTalk, a news program of Southern California Public Radio station KPCC.
Attorneys general from 14 states have sued the federal government claiming that in requiring individuals to purchase health insurance Congress exceeded its constitutionally prescribed powers. In a segment of AirTalk that aired March 30, Associate Dean Amar said it was "very unlikely" the Supreme Court would overturn the health care legislation. The Court has long recognized that Congress has the power to regulate economic activity that affects interstate commerce, even if it is not in itself interstate commerce, Associate 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.