Federal Lawsuit Over Equal Rights Amendment Draws New Allies And Foes

From the Florida Phoenix:

By Laura Cassels
July 20, 2020

A federal lawsuit over the five-decades-old Equal Rights Amendment drew a flurry of filings by allies and foes this month that portend an aggressive fight ahead.

The amendment would guarantee in the Constitution equal treatment of citizens regardless of sex.

An ERA coalition of 50 women’s groups filed arguments on July 1 in support of the pro-ERA lawsuit filed in January by attorneys general for Virginia, Illinois and Nevada, the last three states to ratify the ERA, all since Donald Trump was elected president.

Anti-ERA forces also filed briefs this month to intervene in the case: Concerned Women for America, a conservative Christian organization, and Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), a branch of Independent Women’s Forum. Their brief would support arguments being made by attorneys general in Alabama, Louisiana, South Dakota, Nebraska and Tennessee.

“IWLC is concerned that adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution will jeopardize numerous policies and programs that benefit women and girls,” that organization’s filing says. “IWLC is also concerned that allowing the ERA to because [sic] a part of our Constitution decades after it was originally proposed will disenfranchise a generation of Americans who have never had a chance to weigh in, through their elected representatives, on the question of whether women need additional constitutional protection.”

The U.S. Department of Justice also opposes ratification of the ERA, saying the deadline is long past.

Linda Coberly, chair of the ERA Coalition’s Legal Task Force, said the ERA is needed nationwide to empower Congress to pass laws that help protect people regardless of sex from sexual assault, domestic violence, and discrimination in employment, divorce and property, including unequal pay.

“Winston & Strawn is thrilled to be presenting a brief on behalf of such a diverse and powerful group of organizations that fight for equality every day,” Coberly said in a statement supplied to the Phoenix.

The ERA coalition includes: the American Association of University Women, General Federation of Women’s Clubs, League of Women Voters of the United States, Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Mormons for ERA, National Association of Women Lawyers, National Congress of Black Women, National Council of Jewish Women, National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Service Women’s Action Network, Sisters of Loretto – Loretto Community, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Voto Latino, and YWCA USA.

State leaders in Montana and Michigan also filed briefs in support of the ERA this month, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, pro-ERA forces in Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina, and a coalition of Illinois organizations including the Illinois State Bar Association.

This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.