Reading Room Document

Rescission of Ratification of Constitutional Amendment by a State Prior to its Adoption

In this memo, the OLC explored whether a state that ratified a constitutional amendment could later rescind its ratification. The OLC concluded that a state cannot rescind its ratification of an amendment after the amendment has been adopted through ratification by the legislature of “three fourths of the several states,” as required by Article Five of the constitution, but did not take a position on whether a state could rescind its ratification prior to that point.

February 28, 1973