Associate Dean Amar Comments for Media on California Supreme Court Nominee
Vikram Amar, Associate Dean and Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law, commented for media including National Public Radio affiliates KQED and KXJZ, the Los Angeles Times, the Fresno Bee, and The Recorder on Leondra Kruger, the deputy assistant attorney general in the Obama administration recently nominated by Governor Jerry Brown for a seat on the California Supreme Court.
Kruger is "a whiz-kid superstar type," Amar said in an interview with KQED, explaining her role in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel as being among the "elite lawyers who advise the president on complicated legal matters."'
"She is obviously young, but she has compiled a broad and deep record of appellate expertise," Amar told the Los Angeles Times. "She may be new to being a judge, but she is not new to what high courts do. She basically has been writing briefs for and studying and trying to understand what motivates the highest court - the U.S. Supreme Court.... That reasoning carries over to a great extent to a state supreme court."
Amar also commented on the legacy that Governor Brown may be shaping with the nomination of Kruger, who, if confirmed, would be the third Brown appointee on California's highest court. "It's certainly the case that with these three picks, Jerry Brown seems intent on catching the eye of the nation with the types of judges he's selected," Amar said in an interview with The Recorder. "These are the kind of justices who could be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court depending on who the next president is."
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 Justia.com, a leading provider of online legal information, centers on his expertise in constitutional law.