Associate Dean Amar Comments on Prop. 8 for Wall Street Journal

Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented for a recent story in the Wall Street Journal on the legal status of same-sex couples who married in California before the passage of Proposition 8.  The initiative, which passed in November, amends the state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and woman, calling into question the status of 18,000 same-sex couples who have married in the state.  Associate Dean Amar pointed out that Prop. 8 does not speak directly to the issue and went on to note, "When you want a law to apply retroactively, usually you have to be explicit about it."

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.