Associate Dean Amar Comments on Prop. 8 for Time
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented on legal issues surrounding Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban passed by California voters in November, for an article in the December 23, 2008 issue of Time magazine. The article examines the debate surrounding Attorney General Jerry Brown's legal brief asserting that enforcement of the ban would violate the "inalienable right of liberty" guaranteed by the state Constitution.
"It's creative and contains thoughtful insights," Professor Amar said of the brief. "It profoundly highlights the almost paradoxical nature of American constitutionalism: that minority rights exist only to the extent that the majority stands behind them."
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, the leading provider of online legal information, centers on his expertise in constitutional law.