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The Equal Rights Amendment: Why It Still Matters, and Why It’s Not Too Late
Tuesday, April 27, 2021, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CDT
Category: Events

Nearly 50 years ago, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment with overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle and sent it to the states for ratification. State legislatures raced to be the first to ratify. By the late 1970s, 35 states had ratified—three short of the 38 required for a constitutional amendment.

But the story did not end there. Since 2016, three more states have ratified the ERA—Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and Virginia 2020. With those ratifications, the ERA has now satisfied all the constitutional requirements for an amendment. Yet there remains a practical barrier—a 7-year time limit for ratification, imposed by Congress in 1972 in the preamble to its joint resolution proposing the ERA. This time limit has been (and will continue to be) the subject of litigation, and it is also the target of action in Congress. In March, the House of Representatives voted to remove the time limit altogether. The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a similar measure soon.

Please join us for an update on the ERA featuring Linda Coberly—Winston & Strawn’s Chicago Managing Partner and Chair of the ERA Coalition’s Legal Task Force. Linda will discuss the legal issues underlying the ERA, the impact of the litigation and legislation, how and why Winston became involved in the ratification effort, and where we go from here in the fight for gender equality.