Late today, a federal district judge in the District of Columbia handed down a very important ruling involving the status of the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment.
Judge Rudolph Contreras, an appointee of President Obama, ruled that Congress acted fully within its constitutional powers when it attached a 7-year ratification deadline to the ERA Resolution that was sent to the states in March 1972. Judge Contreras, therefore, rejected the claims of the attorneys general of Virginia, Nevada, and Illinois, that their “ratifications” in 2017-2020 should be counted, and he denied their request that he order the Archivist of the United States to certify the ERA as part of the Constitution.
The ruling can be accessed on the U.S. District Court website here.
ERA deadline ruling - Judge Contreras 3-5-21