Three Democratic attorneys general sue to have Equal Rights Amendment added to Constitution

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/politics/equal-rights-amendment-virginia-litigation-trnd/index.html

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
Updated 1:20 PM ET, Thu January 30, 2020

Three attorneys general of states that recently ratified the Equal Rights Amendment are suing to have the amendment added to the Constitution, challenging a Justice Department opinion that the deadline for passage expired decades ago.

In a complaint filed Thursday, the attorneys general of Virginia, Illinois and Nevada are asking the US District Court in Washington, DC, to force the archivist of the United States, who administers the ratification process, to "carry out his statutory duty of recognizing the complete and final adoption" of the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. The ERA would ban discrimination on the basis of sex and guarantee equality for women under the Constitution.

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The Justice Department has disagreed. Responding to a lawsuit brought by three conservative-leaning states, its Office of Legal Counsel declared earlier this month that the deadline to ratify the ERA has expired and the matter is no longer pending before the states. In doing so, the Justice Department has blocked the archivist, David Ferriero, an Obama appointee, from taking action.
The attorneys general of Alabama, Louisiana and South Dakota had sued the archivist in December, arguing that he is "acting illegally" by continuing "to hold open the ratification process" and refusing to recognize some states' rescissions of the amendment.

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