John, Tomorrow is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women worldwide and highlight the ongoing global efforts to combat gender biases. In the United States, it has now been fifty years since the Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, and sent it to the states for ratification in March 1972. Only 35 states had ratified the amendment ahead of an arbitrary ten-year deadline. But that deadline was not included in the text of the amendment passed by Congress and ratified by the states and, as such, lacks any constitutional authority. Today, the requisite 38 states have ratified the ERA. It is now up to the National Archivist, David Ferriero, to certify it as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. But Ferriero has refused to follow through. Under the direction of former Attorney General Bill Barr, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), in a January 2020 memo, argued that the ERA has not been properly ratified because of the arbitrary deadline. The National Archivist, in accordance with this opinion, has refused to certify and publish the ERA. Sign if you agree: The National Archivist must certify the Equal Rights Amendment. Last April, we authored a coalition letter urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to instruct the OLC to rescind its 2020 advisory opinion, which will clear the way for the National Archivist to publish and certify the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. However, a January opinion from the OLC made clear that Congress may act to extend the (arbitrary) deadline for ratification of the ERA, but “the Department of Justice is defending the Archivist.” We and over 200 constitutional law scholars agree: the 2020 OLC opinion is wrong and must be rescinded by the Department of Justice. The Constitution does not make the Justice Department a gatekeeper on the legal validity of an amendment, nor does it provide Congress with authority to impose a deadline on ratification. The Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified. It’s time to make it official. Tell Attorney General Garland to rescind the 2020 OLC opinion in full and clear the way for the National Archivist to certify the ERA. In solidarity,
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