The latest step in the legal efforts to get the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution now that it has been ratified by 38 states, was the filing on July 1, 2020, by the ERA Coalition and many other organizatins (including AAUW) of a Women’s Movement Amicus Brief.
This asks the Court to hold that a time limit cannot stand in the way of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) because it now meets all the constitutional requirements for amending the constitution. The ERA Coalition joined with 52 Women and Social Justice Groups in filing this brief. The ERA-NC Coalition and AAUW-NC are part of the groups supporting this filing.
In February 2020, the Attorneys General of Virginia, Illinois and Nevada filed a lawsuit to the U.S. District Court of Columbia to compel the national Archivist to certify the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution after his refusal to do so following the last and 38th ratification of the amendment by the state of Virginia. The U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss the case, and these three states have filed an opposition brief in response to the motion to dismiss.
“The Women’s Movement brief articulates the story of the untold millions of women who—throughout this country and for almost a century–have eagerly fought for equality. It states the case clearly: the amendment must be affixed to the Constitution,” said Kimberly Peeler-Allen, Board Chair of the ERA Coalition. “We want the court to understand the significance of the centuries-long struggle for sex equality in the United States—the constitutional requirements for an amendment have been met and there can be no time limit on this fundamental human right,” said Jessica Neuwirth, Co-Founder and Co-President of the ERA Coalition. According to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring: “Forcing women to wait even longer for equal rights under the Constitution is just plain shameful. Time and time again, this movement has shown that it will not let anything stand in its way and I am proud to fight alongside it to ensure women’s equality is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.”
For more details, see the ERA Coalition Press Release.