Democratic AGs sue to force US to ratify ERA

Source: Associated Press


Sarah Rankin and Michelle L. Price, Associated Press
Updated 10:04 am CST, Thursday, January 30, 2020

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Three Democratic state attorneys general are suing a U.S. government official to force him to recognize Virginia’s vote this week to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and certify the measure as part of the Constitution.

The lawsuit filed Thursday against the archivist of the United States comes after the National Archives and Records Administration said this week that David Ferriero would “take no action to certify the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment," which would prohibit discrimination based on sex.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is partnering with Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Before Virginia’s vote this week that made it the critical 38th state to approve the ERA, Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in 2018 were the most recent to ratify the amendment.

The attorneys general argue that U.S. laws do not give the archivist the power to decide whether to certify an amendment. They contend the archivist’s duty to certify the amendment is “mandatory and purely ministerial.”


Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Democratic-AGs-in-last-states-to-ratify-ERA-plan-15015680.php