NY and CT attorneys general push for Equal Rights Amendment ratification

New York Attorney General Letitia James and her Connecticut counterpart William Tong are part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general and the governor of Kansas demanding that the federal government recognize the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

ERA attorneys general amendment — A 1979 rally in favor of the ERA. Photo courtesy The Florida Project

During the 1970s, the ERA was a central aspect of the women”™s liberation movement, calling for recognition that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Congress sent the ERA to the states in 1972, with a 1979 deadline of gaining ratification by 38 states in order for the amendment to become part of the Constitution. When 1979 came around, the deadline was extended by President Jimmy Carter to 1982. However, only 35 states had ratified the amendment by the second deadline and this appeared to have been over.

Since 2017, three states have ratified the amendment, with Virginia becoming the 38th state in January. The Department of Justice has argued the last three ratifications came decades too late for the Constitution to be amended and instructed the National Archivist to take no action on the matter. The new coalition filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to disregard the 1982 deadline and have the National Archivist record the ERA as the 28th Amendment.

“The ratification of the ERA is long overdue, and the Trump administration”™s attempts to block our efforts once again displays the president”™s disrespect and contempt for equality,” James said in a statement. “A century after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the constitutional right to vote, we are still waiting for our nation to bat down discrimination against women and recognize equal rights and protections.”

“Justice and fairness don”™t have an expiration date,” Tong said. “Now that three-quarters of the states have ratified the ERA, the Constitution is clear: The ERA ”˜shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution.”™ The Trump administration”™s fight against the ERA is yet another attempt to discriminate and undermine our rule of law.”