Professor Amar Comments on Prop. 8 Challenge for Sacramento Bee

Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented on Attorney General Jerry Brown's legal challenge to Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban passed by California voters in November, for an article in the Sacramento Bee.  Brown filed a legal brief December 19 arguing that enforcement of the ban would violate the "inalienable right of liberty" guaranteed by the state Constitution.  Associate Dean Amar, an opponent of Prop. 8, commented that Brown's sweeping assertion of basic liberties may call numerous voter initiatives into question. 

"I'm not saying it's wrong or it's implausible," Amar said.  "But it's definitely outside the box.  It's definitely far-reaching."

The Bee story also mentions an article co-written by Amar and Professor Alan Brownstein for FindLaw.com that describes Brown's argument as "an invitation to the court to step outside of the box entirely and ask some foundational questions about the purpose and meaning of a state constitution."

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.

Sacramento Bee article

FindLaw.com article