One of the Supreme Court’s most liberal justices questioned the validity of the Equal Rights Amendment, citing a ratification clause that could quash the decadeslong fight over the measure.
Speaking at Georgetown University Law Center on Monday evening, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she didn’t think the ERA could pass through as-is because of language in the original amendment that stipulated three-fourths of all states must ratify the amendment by 1982.
“I would like to see a new beginning,” Ginsburg told moderator Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “I’d like it to start over.”
Introduced in the 1920s and passed by Congress in 1972, the original deadline for 38 states to ratify the measure was set in 1979 before being extended to 1982. Kentucky, Idaho, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee passed the ERA but later rescinded the ratification, sparking debate about the validity of the ERA’s adoption.
Ginsburg, 86, and her comments have prompted criticism from outlets who support the constitutional prohibition of gender discrimination.
“There’s too much controversy about latecomers,” said Ginsburg. “Plus, a number of states have withdrawn their ratification. So, if you count a latecomer on the plus side, how can you disregard states that said, ‘We’ve changed our minds?'”
House Democrats are poised to introduce new legislation that would repeal the 1982 deadline and allow for the passage of the amendment at the federal level. Virginia became the pivotal 38th state to ratify the ERA in early January, setting up what is expected to be a contentious debate within President Trump’s Department of Justice.
