Professor Julie Suk, whose work focuses on gender equality at the intersections of law, history, sociology, and politics, explained why Congress has the power to remove the previous deadline set for state ratification of the Equal Right Act.
Julie Suk, a professor at Fordham University School of Law, told the Washington Examiner that there has been an understanding by Congress and the courts that under Article 5 of the Constitution, Congress has the power to impose a time limit on ratification for at least 100 years.
“But because that power is pursuant to Congress’s power to pretty much run the amendment process, it means that Congress can impose a deadline, change a deadline and remove a deadline,” Suk said. “Or another way of putting it is that the power that Congress has in Article 5 entails the possibility of forgiving any late ratifications since Congress was the one that put that time limit in the first place; the Constitution does not require any particular time limits on ratification.”
Read “Senate to Vote on Equal Rights Amendment Ratification” in the Washington Examiner.