Democracy Dies in Darkness

Herring, other state AGs file lawsuit demanding addition of ERA to Constitution

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January 30, 2020 at 3:38 p.m. EST
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D), center, at a news conference Thursday. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, is at left, and Carol Jenkins, co-president and chief executive of the ERA Coalition, is to his right. (Patricia Sullivan/The Washington Post)

The attorneys general for the last three states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday arguing that the Trump administration must add the amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Virginia’s General Assembly, newly controlled by Democrats in both chambers, on Monday became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, meeting the requirement of approval by three-quarters of the states. Opponents say the vote was meaningless, because the congressionally imposed deadline for ratification expired decades ago.