Reading Room Document

Constitutionality of Extending the Time Period for Ratification of the Proposed Equal Rights Amendment

This opinion examines whether the Congressional proposal to extend the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). It concludes that no authority suggests persuasively that a deadline extension, in the form of a concurrent resolution subject to simple majority in both houses of Congress, would be unconstitutional. In addition, the opinion finds that neither the state legislature nor Congress can permit the states to rescind their ratification of the ERA during the proposed extension. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/1242666/download.

October 31, 1977