President’s verdict ‘brings the White House in line with the legal academy and profession’
One of the more questionable things departing chief exec Joe Biden did in his waning days was declaring the Equal Rights Amendment officially “ratified” as the Constitution’s 28th Amendment.
“In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,” Biden said on January 17.
As noted by CNN, the amendment was passed by Congress in 1972, but during the individual state ratification process (38 states need to approve), the amendment “sat stagnant for decades” and its deadline came and went.
During that time five states withdrew their ratifications.
Virginia was the final state to ratify the amendment in 2020, which occurred almost 40 years after the ratification deadline set by Congress.
According to the Associated Press, “Democrats and activists have long pressed to consider the amendment as ratified,” but President Biden waited until three days before he leaves office to act on it.
Georgetown Law School posted a congratulatory message Friday on X regarding Professor Victoria Nourse — for “her decades of hard work advocating on behalf of women’s rights and the Equal Rights Amendment which Pres. Biden this morning said should be considered the law of the land.”
In a letter dated January 16, Nourse (pictured) wrote “Throughout his career in public office, Joe Biden has honored his oath to uphold the Constitution and defend the rights of women. President Biden’s carefully considered decision to recognize the Equal Rights Amendment’s status as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution brings the White House in line with the legal academy and profession.”
Nourse added “Knowing him as long as I have, it came as no surprise that our President has worked through the end of his presidency to advance the rights of millions of Americans.”
The professor also said it is “our task […] to defend [the ERA] from those who will work tirelessly to deny its promise.”
However, those at the National Archives said the amendment can not officially be certified “without action from Congress or the judicial system” due to the deadline issue: “Court decisions at both the District and Circuit levels have affirmed that the ratification deadlines established by Congress for the ERA are valid.”
Former Archivist David Ferriero said a few years ago “I can tell you that [SCOTUS Justice] Ruth Bader Ginsburg twice told me, in this building, ‘we need to start over’ on the ERA.”
Ginsburg herself noted in 2020 that if we count “latecomers” towards ratification of the ERA, “how can you disregard states that said we’ve changed our minds [and rescinded ratification]?”
Nonetheless, a “senior [Biden] administration official” claimed the archivists’ role is “purely ministerial” — they are “required to publish the amendment once it is ratified,” NPR reported.
Before Congress in October 2021, Professor Nourse claimed that “without the Equal Rights Amendment as a constitutional insurance policy, all of the things that women take for granted could simply go away with a vote of five men on the Supreme Court.”
But seemingly contradicting her recent letter, Nourse also said “no President, whether Republican or Democrat, has legal authority to issue a binding constitutional opinion on Congress’ authority because Article V [the amendment process] only mentions Congress. The President has no role.”
According to her faculty page, Nourse was Vice President Biden’s chief counsel during the Obama administration, and in 2023 (President) Biden appointed her to serve as vice-chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
MORE: Georgetown law professor: ‘aggressive’ protests justified if ‘the mob is right’
IMAGES: Victoria Nourse/X
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