General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: SCOTUS will throw out the ERA in a NY minute. [View all]Bluetus
(418 posts)and that is based on the DoJ opinion from 2020 after VA passed it. And then Garland's DoJ reiterated the 2020 opinion. Based on that, the Archivist has not added it to the Constitution, so it isn't anything at this point.
I guess somebody can bring a court case based on the argument that it SHOULD have been added to the Constitution in 2020, but that's a waste of time, IMHO.
The central issue is that the Constitution says nothing about any time limits, and the early amendments passed without regard to a specific cutoff date. However, in more recent amendments, it has been customary that the proposing language or the amendment itself state a time limit, usually 7 years. SCOTUS has twice ruled that Congress may set a reasonable deadline for ratification, and because that deadline is considered "dictum", it makes no precedent, and Congress has the power to extend the deadline, even after the legislatures have acted. https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq
So, in theory, this could sit forever until we have the votes in Congress to remove the deadline, at which time it could become a valid amendment. I doubt that the MAGA people will do that, so it just amounts to Biden doing some trash-talking 72 hours from his exit.