Equal Rights Amendment Litigation Likely to Ramp Up in New Year

January is likely to bring a new wave of legal wrangling over the Equal Rights Amendment, prompted by the two-year anniversary of Virginia’s vote to approve the amendment, which arguably gave it the 38 states needed for ratification.

ERA supporters say it is indeed part of the Constitution—its 28th Amendment—despite a lack of official recognition, since it has satisfied the Constitution’s Article V requirements for amending the document. The amendment’s ban on sex-based discrimination under the law takes effect two years after ratification, per the language of the ERA. Supporters say that’s Jan. 27, two years after the Virginia ...