The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-13)

A4 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.SUNDAY,FEBRUARY 13 , 2022

Contreras’srulingwasbrutal,but

whywould amoreconservative

appellate courtreversehim?”

Shesaidsheis planningnew

lawsuitsin statecourts, hoping

to replicate thestate-ledstrategy

thatprovedsuccessfulforthe

nationwideadoptionof same-sex

marriage.

Pozen,theColumbialaw

professor,saidcourts have been

reluctantto involvethemselves

in theamendmentprocess,

whichaccountsin partfor the

poorjudicialrecordforERA

supporters.Hisarticlesays it

wouldbe “odd”tothinka

presidentcoulddecidethatan

amendmentwasadoptedand

“odderstill to thinkthatsucha

rolewouldbe playedby

subordinate executiveofficers

suchas thearchivistofthe

UnitedStates.”Thatwouldleave

Congressin thebestposition,

amongthethreebranchesof

government,to decidewhether

anamendmentwasadopted,the

articlesaid.

PozennotedthatContreras

puntedonthatquestion,writing

in hisopinion:“Congresshasnot

triedto revivetheERAdespite

bothdeadlines’expirations,so

theCourtisnot confrontedwith

thatdifficult issueeither.”

TheHousein 2021,by avoteof

222 to 204,passedaresolutionto

eliminate thedeadline,buta

companionbillin theSenate has

notreceivedavote.Lawmakers

arenowpushinganew

resolutionthatwould declare

that theERAhas alreadymetthe

requirementsto be the28th

amendment.

TheNationalArchivesand

RecordsAdministrationdeclined

to commentbecauseof the

ongoinglitigation.Maloney’s

staffsentus alegalanalysis

disputingtheTrumpOLC

opinionbut,despiterepeated

requests, didnotaddresswhy

sheclaimedthatFerrierohad

writtento herthathewas a

supporterof theERA. “The

archivistoftheUnitedStateshas

astatutory dutytocertifyand

publishtheERAonceithas met

allof therequirementsfor

ratification,regardlessof the

archivist’spersonalviews,”

Maloney’sofficesaidin a

statement.

“Thedate thattheERAis

supposedto go into effectis

January27, 2022,twoyearsafter

thefinalstateratified,”the

statementadded.“Giventhat

thisdate justoccurred,it is no

surprisethatthere hasnotyet

beenanylitigationseekingto

enforcetheamendment.Wefully

expectthisissueto be litigatedin

thefuture.”

ThePinocchioTest

Maloneyisofferingfalsehope

aboutthearchivist’srole—and

falselyputtingwordsin

Ferriero’s mouth. His2012letter

to herdidnotindicate support

fortheERA. Moreover,two

majorcourtrulingshave

concludedthattheERA’s

ratificationdeadline,as setby

Congress,hasexpired—a

positionembracedby theJustice

Departmentof boththeTrump

andBidenadministrations.The

SupremeCourtin1982also

indicatedsupportfor theidea

thatthedeadlinehaspassed.

At thispoint,pendingfurther

courtorcongressionalaction,it

is simplywrongto claimthatthe

ERAalreadyhasmet

constitutionalmusterandthat

allthatisneededis theapproval

of thearchivist. Maloneyearns

Four Pinocchios.

26,theOLCissuedabriefmemo

thatquibbledwithonepart—

whetherCongresshadthe

authoritytomodifytheERA’s

deadline—but otherwisemade

it clearthatitwould maintain

theTrumppositionin court.

“TheERAisnot apartofthe

UnitedStatesConstitutionand

thearchivistoftheUnitedStates

maynot certifyitassuch,”the

memosaid,restatingtheTrump

administration’s conclusion.But,

it added,“nothingin theopinion

standsas anobstacleto

Congress’sabilitytoact”onits

own.

Duringthe 2020 presidential

campaign,aBidencampaign

statementhadsaid“Bidenwill

proudlyadvocate forCongressto

recognizethat3/4 of states have

ratifiedtheamendment.”OnJan.

27,hecalledonCongressto pass

aresolutionrecognizing

ratificationof theERA. But

advocatesthinkhehasnotdone

enough.

“TheConstitutionprescribes

noroleforthepresidentto

decidewhetheranamendment

to theConstitutionhasbeen

adopted,”aWhiteHouseofficial

saidin astatementtoTheFact

Checker.“Theroleof the

archivistisamatter subjectto

litigation,andwewoulddeferto

theJusticeDepartmentonsuch

issues.Most importantly,the

presidentis callingonCongress

to actimmediatelyto expressthe

willof thepeoplethatthe

principleof genderequality

belongsdefinitivelyenshrinedin

theConstitution—andthereis

nothingstandingin Congress’s

wayfromdoingso.”

TheContreras rulinghasbeen

appealedandwillbe heardby the

U.S. CourtofAppealsfortheD.C.

Circuitthisyear.But Wendy

Murphy, whofiledthe

Massachusettslawsuitand

teachesat NewEnglandLaw-

Boston,saidtheprospects are

grim,especiallybecausethe

Bidenadministrationhasnot

reversedcoursefromTrump’s

position.

“TheD.C.casewillnot

succeed,”shesaid.“Their

standingargumentis much

worsethanminewas.And

andanindividual—did nothave

legalstandingto bringaclaim.

Theadvocatessoughtbotha

directhearingin theSupreme

Court, whichwasdenied,anda

rulingin theU.S. Courtof

Appealsforthe1stCircuit,which

in 2021unanimouslyupheld

Casper’s opinion.

Meanwhile,U.S. DistrictJudge

RudolphContreras,alsoan

Obamaappointee,heardthe

lawsuitfiledby thethreelate-

ratificationstates.In 2021, he

dismissedthecase.Notonlydid

thestates lackstandingto sue,

but“evenif plaintiffs had

standing,Congresssetdeadlines

forratifyingtheERAthatexpired

longago,”hewrote.

TheContreras opinionis

interestingbecauseheevaluated

manyoftheargumentsmadeby

ERAsupporters,suchas

Maloney, andfoundthem

wanting.For one,herejectedthe

ideathatthearchivistcouldwave

awandanddeclarethattheERA

hadpassed:“TheArchivist’s

publicationandcertificationof

anamendmentareformalities

withnolegaleffect.”

Second,hefoundthe

ratificationdeadlinein theERA

to be validandthatitwould be

“absurd”for thearchivistto

ignoreit.

Contreras pointedoutthatthe

ratificationdeadlineemergedas

partofthecongressional

dealmakingto wintwo-thirds

majoritysupportinboththe

HouseandSenate.Healso

determinedthatbecausethe

SupremeCourthadvacatedthe

1981 rulingafterthedeadline

expired,thecourt“appearedto

tacitlyacknowledgethatthe

ERA’sratificationdeadlinewas

effective.”Henotedthatthe

NationalOrganizationfor

Womenhadopposedsuchastep:

“Toreachthatconclusion,the

Courtmusthaveassumedthat

theERA’sdeadlinebarred

furtherratifications—asthe

respondentswarnedamootness

rulingwouldimply.”

DespitepressurefromERA

advocates,theBiden

administrationhasnotrescinded

theTrumpOffice of Legal

Counselruling.Instead,onJan.

ERAhadachievedratification.In

2020,hewassuedby twopro-

ERAgroupsinMassachusetts

andby thestates of Nevada,

IllinoisandVirginia.Hewasalso

suedin 2019 by several states

thathadrescindedratification,

butthatwas quicklysettledby

theTrumpJusticeDepartment

becausetherewasno

disagreementthatthedeadline

hadpassed.

Beforewedelveintothese

cases,therewasa1981case,

Idahov. Freeman,that

consideredtheextensionof the

amendment’s ratification

deadline.Idaho,whichhad

rescindeditsratification,

objectedto theextensionof the

deadlineby onlyamajorityvote.

U.S. DistrictJudgeMarion

Callister,whohadbeen

appointedby PresidentGerald

Ford,ruledthattheextension

was“anunconstitutional

exerciseof congressional

authority” becauseatwo-thirds

voteis requiredwhenever

Congressexercisesitspowers

underArticleV.

CallistersaidCongressis

undernoobligationto setatime

limitontheratificationprocess.

Butonceit does,hewrote,

“Congressis notat libertyto

changeit.”

Thejudgealsolooked

favorablyonIdaho’s rescission

becauseit hadtakenplacebefore

fullratificationwasachieved.

TheSupremeCourtstayed

Callister’s rulingandwas

preparedto reviewthecase.But

afterthe 1982 deadlinepassed

withoutthenecessaryvotes for

ratificationof theERA, thehigh

courtthendeclaredthecase

mootandorderedit dismissed.

Withoutsayingso directly,the

SupremeCourtappearedto

acceptthatthedeadlinewas

valid.

The2020Massachusettscase,

heardby U.S. DistrictJudge

DeniseJ. Casper, anappointeeof

PresidentBarackObama’s, did

notprogressfar.Thesupporters

of theERAarguedthatthe

ratificationdeadlinewas

unconstitutional,butCasper

dismissedthecase,sayingthe

plaintiffs —twopro-ERAgroups

Complicatingmatters,five

states between 1973 and 1979

votedto rescindtheirratification

of theERA. Thereis noprovision

in theConstitutionthatallowsa

statetodothat. Solegalexperts

aredividedonwhetherthose

ratificationsshouldbe counted.

In 2012,afterarequestfrom

Maloneyfor an“officialrecord,”

Ferrierowrotetheletter thatshe

mentionedin thenews

conference.Contrarytoher

claim,Ferrieromakes no

mentionof supportingtheERA.

ButhislanguagegaveERA

supporterssomehope.

FerrierodirectedMaloneyto

NARA’s website,whichsaid

congressionalactionis not

neededto certifytheaddingof an

amendment.Moreover,hewrote,

“a laterrescissionof astate’s

ratificationis notacceptedas

valid”; however,heattachedalist

of states thatnotedfive

“purported”rescissions.Once 38

stateratificationsarereceived,

hesaid,anamendment

“becomespartoftheconstitution

andcannotbe rescinded”unless

anewamendmentabolishesit.

(Note:Thecurrent versionof the

websitedoesnothave such

definitivelanguageonstate

rescissions.)

ERAsupporterspressedto win

ratificationin thelastthree

states,startingwithNevadain

2017 andIllinoisin 2018.In 2020,

Virginiabecamethe38th stateto

ratifytheERA.

Asthestateratifications

neared 38 duringtheTrump

administration,Ferrierosought

guidancefromtheJustice

Departmentonhowto dealwith

theunexpectedsituation.The

Office of LegalCounsel,in a

January2020opinion,said

Congresshadthe“constitutional

authority” to imposeadeadline,

althoughit wasmoreskeptical

thatCongresscouldextendit. In

anycase,theOLCsaid,theERA

diedwiththedeadline’s

expirationin 1982.Congress

couldnotnowshort-circuitthe

amendmentprocess,andinstead

thewholeprocesswouldneedto

startover, theOLCsaid.

Withthatanalysisin hand,

Ferrierodidnotcertifythatthe

“Whenhe [David
Ferriero]first
becamethe
archivist,Iwrote
to himaboutthe
ERAandthatit
washis job to
certifyit. He wrote
me back—Ihave
got the letter—
sayinghe
supportsthe ERA
andthathe woulddo it.”
—Rep.CarolynB.Maloney
(D-N.Y.),inremarksduringa
virtualnewsconferenceonthe
EqualRightsAmendment,Jan.
27
ThebattleovertheEqual
RightsAmendmenthashad
manytwists andturnssince
Congressfirstpassedit andit
wassentto thestates 50years
agofor ratification.For
proponentssuchas Maloney, the
issueis asimpleone—38states
have ratifiedtheamendment,
mostrecentlyVirginiain 2020,
andso nowit is alreadypartof
theConstitution.Allthatis
needed,advocatessay, is for
Ferriero—theU.S. archivistand
chiefadministrator of the
NationalArchivesandRecords
Administration(NARA) since
2009 —toacknowledgethatfact.
“Hesayshebelievesin the
ERA. Well, if youbelieve in it, just
certifyit. He’stheoneholdingit
back,”Maloneysaidat anews
conferencesponsoredby the
ERACoalition.“A ndit’s a
technicality. Equalityisnot a
technicality. Equalityisaright.
Wehave metevery single
requirementthatwas put
forward.Therewereonlytwoin
theConstitution.Onewasthat
youhadto have two-thirdsof
Congress;wehadmorethantwo-
thirdsof Congresswhenwe
passedit. Andthat38states
neededto ratifyit. We’vedone
that!”
Butit’s notsosimple. The
letter referredto by Maloney—
whoheadstheHousecommittee
thatoverseesNARA—indicates
nosupportbythearchivistfor
theERA. Moreover,every time
theissuehasbeenlitigatedin
federal court, mostrecentlyin
2021,thepro-ERAsidehas lost,
nomatter whetherthejudgewas
appointedby aDemocrat or
Republican.

TheFacts

ArticleVoftheConstitutionlays
outtheprocessforaddingan
amendmentto theConstitution.
Two-thirdsof eachhousein
Congressmustapprovethe
amendment,andthenthree-
fourthsof thestates mustratify
it. Buttheprocessis opento
interpretation.Asarecent
ColumbiaLawSchoolarticleby
DavidPozenandThomasP.
Schmidtdetailed,many
amendmentshave beenadopted
withouttherulesbeingstrictly
followed.
Abig questionsurrounding
theERAiswhetherCongresscan
setatimelimitforratification.
TheConstitutionis silentonthe
issue.In 1992,anamendment
regardingcongressionalpaywas
certifiedby thearchivistas
havingmetthethree-fourths
thresholdeventhoughit had
beensentto thestates for
ratificationalmosttwocenturies
earlier.Thatamendmenthadno
apparenttimelimit.But,starting
in 1917, Congress beganadding
ratificationdeadlinesto virtually
allproposedamendments—and
theERAhadatimelimitof seven
years.Whenthatexpired,
Congress(byasimplemajority
vote)tackedonanotherthree
years.Buttheratificationcount
stayedstalledat 35 states,and
theERA’sdeadlineexpiredin
1982.

The ERA and the archivist of the United States: Anatomy of afalse claim

The Fact
Checker

GLENN
KESSLER

JABINBOTSFORD/THEWASHINGTONPOST

Rep.CarolynB.Maloney(D-N.Y.)speaksata2021newsconferenceonCapitolHill.SheclaimstheEqualRightsAmendmentisalready

partoftheConstitution,yetthepro-ERAsidehaslosteverycase.

NATION

Gun salesboostfunds

forconservation

Ta xreceiptsfromsurginggun
andammunitionsalesin the
UnitedStatesboostedmoneyfor
afederal conservationprogram
to arecordlevelin 2022,officials
announcedFriday.
Excisetaxesonguns,
ammunitionandarchery
equipmentbroughtin $1.
billionto fundfederal grantsto
states forstatewildlife
conservationandhunter
education,saidofficialsfromthe
U.S. FishandWildlifeService.
Arelatedprogramforfish
restorationbroughtin almost
$400million,fromtaxeson
fishingequipmentandboatfuel,
theysaid.
Therestorationprograms
distributetaxmoneyfrom
hunting,shootingandfishing
equipmentto all 50 states and
U.S. territories.Thetaxes
resultedfroma1937lawthat
aimedto stoptherapiddecline
of manyspeciesof fish andother

animalsearlylastcentury

becauseof overhuntingand

habitatdestruction.

Moneyfor thewildlife

programrosebymorethan 60

percentoverlastyearand

shatteredtheprevioushighof

$808millionin 2015,according

to figuresprovidedbyFishand

WildlifespokespersonLaury

Marshall.

Theincreasedfundingcomes

afterat least18.5million

firearmsweresoldlastyear,

accordingto theNational

ShootingSports Foundation.The

salesvolumeis basedonthe

numberof lawenforcement

backgroundchecksforgun

buyersandis aminimum

estimate,saidMark Oliva, the

firearmindustrygroup’s public

affairsdirector.

Therewerearecord21 million

backgroundchecksin 2020,he

said.Ammunitionsalesalso

have beenupsharplyduringthe

pandemic,risingbyabout 30

percent,Olivasaid.

Te xasis eligibleto receivethe

mostmoneyfromthe

restorationprogramsthisyear,

about$71million,followedby

Alaska,withabout$66million.

Theformulafordecidingeach

state’samountis basedonits

landandwaterareaandthe

numberof fishingandhunting

licensesit sells.

—AssociatedPress

MICHIGAN

Policekill man after

allegedmosquearson

Dearbornpolicefatallyshota

manovernightFridayafter he

allegedlystartedafireat a

mosqueandfiredat officersin

anincidentthatinitially started

in Detroit,thechiefsaid.

At1:18a.m.Saturday,

Dearbornofficersonpatrol

observedafireattheAl-Huda

IslamicAssociation,onthecity’s

northeastside.

Whenofficersrespondedto

thefire,theyencounteredan

armedmanat thescenewho

appearedto have shotat the

officers,thedepartmentsaid.

Theofficerspursuedtheman

southboundalongLonyo

Avenue.

Fromthere,heallegedlyfired

at theofficersas theyinstructed

himto dropthefirearm.The

officersreturnedfire,fatally

strikingtheman.Noofficers

wereinjured.

DearbornChiefofPoliceIssa

Shahinsaidtheincident

stemmedfromashootingin

Detroit.Shahinsaidthatthe

incidentwasnotcausedbya

firebombbutthatafirewas

startedfrominsidethemosque.

—DetroitNews

Mobile,Ala.,celebratesMardi

Gras:Thecitythatcallsitselfthe

“birthplaceof MardiGras”

kickedoffits firstrealMardi

Gras celebrationsince 2020 after

twoyearsthatwerelosttothe

pandemic.Mobile’s firstbig

paradeof theMardiGras season

washeldFridaynight,asthe

CondeCavaliersrolledthrough

thecity. Withclearskiesand

nighttimetemperaturesin the

50s, abig crowdwasin

attendanceto goafterplastic

beads,trinketsandMoonPies.

—AssociatedPress

DIGEST

As of 8p.m. Saturday

77,687,

177,

546,624, 663

917,

2,

564,

7-dayaverage

7-dayaverage

Total

DEATHS

Total

VACCINEDOSESADMINISTERED

Newcoronaviruscases,deathsand

vaccinedoses in the U.S., by day

Total

CASES

7-dayaverage

0

200 k

400 k

600 k

800 k

1m

1.2m

7-dayavg.

Feb. 29, 2020 Jan. 2021 Feb. 12, 2022

0

2k

4k

7-day avg.

Feb. 29, 2020 Jan. 2021 Feb. 12, 2022

0

1m

2m

3m

4m

5m

7-dayavg.

Feb. 29, 2020 Jan. 2021 Feb. 12, 2022