BREAKING: President Biden says the Equal Rights Amendment is “the law of the land” but there’s still another step — and a legal fight — ahead.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts.bsky.social) January 17, 2025 at 9:39 AM
But of course we can expect resistance from the Right. Honest to God, I’m tired. NPR:
The issue has long been the subject of legal controversy. In 2020, the National Archivist – who is charged with making constitutional amendments official – declined to certify the amendment, citing an opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. The department said it considered the ERA to be expired after a 1982 ratification deadline was missed. In 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel released an opinion affirming that 2020 decision.
Last month, the archivist said that Congress and the courts would need to take further action to lift the deadline for the amendment to be ratified – arguing that it could not legally certify and publish the ERA.
Is that the same Office of Legal Counsel that prevented Mueller from indicting Trump? Why yes, it is.
Looks like the OLC gets to decide Republican presidents are immune from prosecution, and women get bupkis.
And let’s hear a whole bunch of BS about how this prevents women from having their own public bathrooms. Phyllis Schlafly lives on.
Because Republicans.
Still, The Center for American Progress is hopeful:
Will the validity of the 28th Amendment be litigated? Most Likely. The process of amending the Constitution is incredibly difficult. This is why it has only been previously amended 27 times. Throughout U.S. constitutional history, procedural questions and doubt around ratified amendments have been the norm and, over time, there have been concerns about the validity of many amendments that are now securely in place as accepted parts of the Constitution. Although the ERA has met all the requirements laid out in Article 5 to become an amendment, it is very likely its validity will be challenged in court. However, the Constitution affords no role in the ratification process to the Supreme Court. In a 1939 case, four justices in a key decision on another amendment strongly suggested that disputes over amendments were fundamentally political questions better left to the political branches—not the courts. The ERA has strong legal arguments to overcome the procedural claims against it, which is why the American Bar Association—an independent, nonpartisan association of the nation’s lawyers—passed a resolution in August affirming that the ERA has been appropriately ratified as the 28th Amendment. Plus, there is no role in Article 5 whatsoever for the judicial branch in the amendment process. If the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes to remove a ratified amendment from the Constitution, such a move would be unconstitutional and run counter to long standing precedent.
It’s one more thing to fight for during the next four years.
Karen Garrison is a news writer and editor at News Hack Arizona. She loves to write about politics, health, business, parenting, and finance. Karen also enjoys playing the piano, reading, and spending time with her dog.
