The Equal Rights Amendment Revival Is a ‘Brazenly Unconstitutional Joke’

Susan Matthews and Mark Joseph Stern write in Slate that “there are obvious reasons to be frustrated by conservative efforts to scorn ERA revival as a brazenly unconstitutional joke.” But that’s exactly what the revival is.

The key problem: Congress proposed the amendment in 1972, stipulating that the constitutionally required 38 states would have to ratify it within seven years. Only 35 did. ERA proponents used a constitutionally dubious gambit to extend the deadline for three more years, but they didn’t get any more states. Until 2017-2020, when they got three more states to ratify it — decades too late. Some activists are trying to get the national archivist to declare that the amendment has been ratified, notwithstanding this pesky detail. Then, they fantasize, the courts will treat it as a valid amendment and use it to strike down various policies and impose others.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Equal Rights Amendment

Susan Matthews and Mark Joseph Stern write in Slate that “there are obvious reasons to be frustrated by conservative efforts to scorn ERA revival as a brazenly unconstitutional joke.” But that’s exactly what the revival is.

The key problem: Congress proposed the amendment in 1972, stipulating that the constitutionally required 38 states would have to ratify it within seven years. Only 35 did. ERA proponents used a constitutionally dubious gambit to extend the deadline for three more years, but they didn’t get any more states. Until 2017-2020, when they got three more states to ratify it — decades too late. Some activists are trying to get the national archivist to declare that the amendment has been ratified, notwithstanding this pesky detail. Then, they fantasize, the courts will treat it as a valid amendment and use it to strike down various policies and impose others.