ERA Litigation Draws Heavy Hitters for Equality for All

ST PAUL, July 2, 2020 – ERA Minnesota (ERAMN) is proud to join an amicus brief on behalf of a national coalition of over 50 women's rights organizations to impel the US Archivist to certify the now-ratified Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

This amicus brief was filed on behalf of ERA Coalition, a national coalition of 76 member organizations of which ERA Minnesota is a Lead Organization, advocating for state and federal constitutional amendments to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. The amicus brief was created by a team at Winston & Strawn Law Firm in Chicago spearheaded by Linda Coberly, managing partner at the firm and Chair of ERA Coalition's Legal Task Force.

Now that the ERA has satisfied all constitutional requirements to formally ratify it into the US Constitution, this amicus brief argues that the arbitrary, extra-textual 7-year time frame imposed by Congress in 1972 should not prevent adoption as it does not have the power to alter provisions of the Constitution that govern amendments.

"Thank you to the Attorneys General of Nevada, Illinois, & Virginia for authoring this litigation to ensure that the ERA is acknowledged as the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution," said Heather Allison, President of ERA Minnesota “The ERA is the most logical step to forming a more perfect union by including all in the founding document of our country.”

“This litigation is supported by 23 Attorney’s General, major law firms, 93 major companies & corporations, and vast, diverse women’s rights organizations across the land,” said Betty Folliard, Founder of ERAMN; “and on the 100th Anniversary of women gaining the rights to vote, it’s high time to provide constitutional protections against sex discrimination.”

Here is a complete list of participants in this amicus brief:

• Alice Paul Institute (API)
• American Association of University Women (AAUW)
• Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA)
• Arizona NOW
• Black Women's Roundtable (BWR)
• Dolores Huerta Foundation
• Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP)
• Downtown Women for Change
• Equal Rights Amendment North Carolina Alliance (ERA-NC Alliance)
• Equality Utah
• ERA Coalition
• ERA Minnesota
• ERA Task Force AZ
• Feminist Majority Foundation
• Fund for Women's Equality (FFWE)
• Gender Justice
• General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC)
• Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
• Justice Revival
• League of Women Voters of the United States
• Legal Momentum
• Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc.
• Michigan ERAmerica
• Mormons for ERA
• National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV)
• National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW)
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
• National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)
• National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
• National Council of Jewish Women, Inc.
• National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs
• National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project, Inc. (NIWAP)
• National Organization for Women (NOW)
• National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC)
• National Women's Political Caucus Foundation
• Oklahoma Women's Coalition
• Project 28 MO
• Rethinking Eve LLC
• Service Women's Action Network (SWAN)
• Sisters of Loretto - Loretto Community
• Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Area
• TIME'S UP Foundation
• Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
• United 4 Equality, LLC
• Utah ERA Coalition
• Voto Latino
• Women's Equality Coalition
• Women's Health and Reproductive Rights
• Women's Law Project (WLP)
• Women Lawyers on Guard Inc. (WLG)
• Women's Media Center
• YWCA USA