1st Circuit upholds dismissal of case that sought to resuscitate ERA

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Harle regarding the unanimous decision Tuesday of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit panel to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of Equal Means Equal v. Ferriero, a lawsuit that implausibly claimed that the long-dead Equal Rights Amendment should nonetheless be adopted into the U.S. Constitution:

“The Equal Rights Amendment has been legally dead for a very long time. Congress gave states seven years to ratify it, a deadline that came and went decades ago. Honest advocates for the ERA have long understood that their time has expired, and any legitimate effort to add this amendment to the Constitution would have to start over from the beginning. The decision in this case rightfully hinders the current campaign to illegally sneak the ERA into the Constitution, which ADF has opposed in a separate case. If that effort is ultimately successful, the rule of law will be undermined as the Constitution’s amendment process is discarded for political convenience.”

• Pronunciation guide: Harle (HAR’-lee)

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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