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American Insurance Association v. Garamendi April 23, 2003 (02-722) return to case listing Case Summary In 1999, California enacted the Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act (HVIRA) in order to facilitate Holocaust-era insurance claims in California courts. This was done in response to complaints that insurance companies regularly denied the life insurance claims of Holocaust victims and their families. HVIRA requires California insurers that sold policies to people in Europe to file certain information about these policies with the California Commissioner of Insurance. If California insurers fail to comply, they are subject to having their insurance licenses suspended. Petitioners brought suit arguing that the law violated the federal government's foreign affairs power and the Commerce Clause, the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. The court issued a preliminary injunction and held that the Petitioners could succeed in showing that HVIRA violated the foreign affairs doctrine and the Commerce Clause. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and held that the foreign affairs doctrine was not compromised because the law was not directed at any particular foreign country. The Ninth Circuit further held that the Commerce Clause was not violated because the regulation of insurance is left to the states. The opinion of the Ninth Circuit is found at 296 F.3d 832. To see the opinion of the lower court, click here. PREDICTED OUTCOME ACTUAL OUTCOME Forecasting Model Expert One Expert Two Expert Three 8-1 to Reverse 7-2 to Affirm 6-3 to Reverse n/a 5-4 to Reverse VOTING TO REVERSE Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Scalia Thomas Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Rehnquist O'Connor Kennedy Souter Breyer VOTING TO AFFIRM Stevens Rehnquist Stevens O'Connor Kennedy Souter Ginsburg Breyer Stevens Ginsburg Breyer Stevens Scalia Thomas Ginsburg return to case listing