Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Stephen E Sachs
“When Congress proposed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, it specified in its joint resolution (86 Stat. 1523), agreed to by two-thirds of each House, that the ERA would become valid ‘when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress.’ Not enough states ratified before the seven years elapsed, or even before the end of a three-year extension that Congress tried to grant by simple majority in 1978. So the ERA is generally thought to be dead. But since then, a few more legislatures have purported to ratify the Amendment anyway, pushing the total number over three-fourths. So whether the U.S. Constitution currently includes the ERA or not partly depends on whether this ‘within seven years’ limit is legally effective — or whether it’s an unconstitutional addition to the two-thirds-and-three-fourths requirements of Article V.” [editor’s note: It’s the latter – TLK] (09/13/23)