Equal Rights Amendment Faces Setback in Federal Court Ruling (2)

Equal Rights Amendment foes won a federal court ruling halting an effort to add the proposition to the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by the states of Virginia, Illinois, and Nevada, ruling they lack legal standing to force the ERA’s recognition as fully ratified because they can’t show they’ve suffered a concrete injury.

“Even if Plaintiffs had standing, Congress set deadlines for ratifying the ERA that expired long ago. Plaintiffs’ ratifications came too late to count,” the judge said.

Backers of the measure now must look to a federal appeals court ...