Join us in Auerbach 320 or online this Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., for our next meeting of the Philosophy Club as Brian Skelly presents for discussion: The Equal Rights Amendment—Why the Lag?
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The Equal Rights Amendment is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution first proposed in 1923 as what was then thought by many to be the logical rejoinder of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment of 1920, which granted women the right to vote. eventually buried in committee in both Houses of Congress, it finally came up for a vote in 1946 when it was narrowly defeated in the full senate, 38-35. Four years later, a version of it did pass in the Senate, but with a rider attached nullifying its legal protection aspects. In 1971, it passed a House vote with no limiting stipulations, 354-24, with the Senate following through in 1972, approving it 84-8.
Requiring ratification by three-quarters, or 38 of the state legislatures, by 1979 it had earned the approval of 35 states before failure to gain any more before the ratification procedure had reached its expiration date. Afterward, Congress extended the expiration date to 1982 but then failed to persuade any new states to go along. In the meantime, 5 of the original 35 states had declared rescissions of their ratifications, although those efforts have been widely understood as constitutionally invalid.
Throughout the 80’s into the early 90’s, unsuccessful attempts were made to reinitiate the amendment on the floor of Congress.
In a separate development, a three-state strategy was developed by members of Congress led by Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ) in 1994, according to which the remaining non-ratifying states would be appealed to ratify the amendment until three more ratifications were gained , at which time Congress would appeal for another extension of the amendment’s ratification period to include the new ratifications and up the number to the required 38, thus setting the stage for Congress to promulgate the amendment as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment. This strategy gained little traction until a surge in support for it after the 2016 presidential election led to its eventually garnering three more ratifications – Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia – had achieved the first phase of the strategy. What remains is for Congress to move to extend the expiration date to include the ratifications and also fend off any eventual claims as to the validity of the five states whose legislatures later claimed to have rescinded their ratifications.
Precedence favors the denial of those claims since the Constitution does not accord to states the authority to rescind (see complete document).
Questions? Contact Brian Skelly at bskelly@hartford.edu or 413.273.2273.
An ongoing weekly tradition at the University since 2001, the University of Hartford Philosophy Club is a place where students, professors, and people from the community at large meet as peers. Sometimes presentations are given, followed by discussion. Other times, topics are hashed out by the whole group.
Presenters may be students, professors, or people from the community. Anyone can offer to present a topic. The mode of presentation may be as formal or informal as the presenter chooses.
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