American Insurance Assn. v. Garamendi
Several insurance companies sought to enjoin the California Insurance Commissioner
from enforcing a California statute that requires disclosure of information
about Holocaust-era insurance policies. The Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief
Act (HVIRA) requires any insurer doing business in California, that sold insurance
policies to persons in Europe that were in effect between the years 1920 and
1945, to file certain information about those policies with the Commissioner.
The reporting requirement also applies to insurance companies that do business
in California and are “related” to a company that sold Holocaust-era
policies.The district court granted a preliminary injunction, finding the insurance
companies likely to succeed on their Commerce Clause and foreign affairs doctrine
claims. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those claims as a matter
of law, but remanded for consideration of the Due Process claims. The district
court permanently enjoined enforcement of the statute based on the Due Process
claims. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding, among others,
(1) that the California legislature did not exceed its legislative authority
because HVIRA does not regulate extraterritorially; and (2) HVIRA did not violate
the substantive or procedural due process rights of the insurance companies
Questions Presented:
1. Whether California's Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act, which the U.S.
government has called an "actual interference" with U.S. foreign policy,
violates the foreign affairs doctrine of Zschering v. Miller, 389 U.S. 429 (1968).
2. Whether the HVIRA, which attempts to regulate insurance transactions that
occurred overseas between foreign parties more than half a century ago, exceeds
California's legislative jurisdiction under the Due Process Clause.
3. Whether the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. 1011-1015, insulates the HVIRA
from review under the Foreign Commerce Clause.
Decision
under Review
Supreme Court Opinion
Commentary
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