"Vikram David Amar" is professor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UC Davis School of Law/UC Davis School of Law (King Hall). Before becoming a professor, he clerked for Judge William A. Norris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Harry Blackmun at the Supreme Court of the United States. After serving as a clerk, Amar worked in the Sacramento office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, then began his career in legal academia in 1993 at UC Davis School of Law/King Hall. He joined the UC Hastings faculty in 1998, before returning to UC Davis School of Law/King Hall in 2007.

Amar received a BA in History from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1988 he earned his Juris Doctor/J.D. from Yale Law School.

He writes a [http://writ.news.findlaw.com/amar/ regular column] for [http://writ.news.findlaw.com/ Findlaw's Writ]. He also frequently appears on national radio and television programs as a commentator on contemporary legal issues.

Amar's brother, Akhil Amar, is Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School.

More Vikram Amar on Wikipedia.

Unless a legislature passes a bill testing the opinion, there is no way to know if the court's opinion has changed. They can't signal a change of attitude without a vehicle for it.

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A parade is defined by who is in it. Its identity consists of who is in it. The inclusion of any political group -- even one not trumpeting its point of view -- might detract from the message the parade sends.

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If the trial court was wrong in letting her serve as her own counsel, that's not a mistake that's immune from appellate review. The system has to have a way to protect people from themselves.

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