FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 14, 2021
CONTACTS:
Heather Allison, heather@eramn.org, BettyFolliard, betty.folliard@gmail.com
ERA Minnesota Sends Silent Sentinels to Stand Vigil at the DOJ, June 28-30
SAINT PAUL – On June 28-30, 2021, ERA Minnesota (ERAMN) will be sending a delegation of activists to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Equal Means Equal Silent Sentinel Protest Vigil in front of the U.S. Department of Justice.
ERAMN delegates will join activists from across the country to elevate the issue that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to rescind the Trump Administration’s Barr Memo which effectively stopped the U.S. Archivist from doing his ministerial duty to publish the ERA. This action continues the work of the Silent Sentinels who, 100 years ago, fought for the right to vote then pivoted to demand the U.S. finally legalize equality.
ERA facts:
- On January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th state in the nation to ratify the ERA, thereby clearing all the constitutional hurdles for the ERA to be added as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- Two weeks before final ratification, the Trump DOJ’s Office of Legal Council issued an opinion stopping the Archivist from certifying the ERA once ratified.
- The ERA is the only constitutional amendment that has cleared both hurdles required by Article V of the U.S. Constitution (i.e., having been adopted by 2/3 of Congress and ratified by 3⁄4 states) that has not been added, simply because of an arbitrary and capricious time limit imposed by Congress.
- This past March 17th, Biden’s White House issued a statement supporting the resolution in Congress to remove the time limit on the ERA. This bill was passed by the U.S. House in February.
- The ERA is the only amendment passed by 38 states that was written, instigated, and justified by women since women gained the vote.
For more information, participate in this action or sponsor a sentinel, go to: www.eramn.org or https://equalmeansequal.org/blog/join-us-era-sentinel-outside-doj/
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ERA Minnesota is a coalition of advocates and organizations dedicated to ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment into our federal & state constitutions, founded in 2014.