CASE STUDY 1-EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
Legal issue
The equal rights amendment proposed in 1923 which states, “Men and women shall have equal
rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” Congress later
ratified an amendment in 1972 which states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” One of the legal issues
surrounding the ERA amendment is that Congress set a deadline of 7 years for 38 states to ratify
the amendment. Only 35 states voted to ratify the amendment by 1978. In 1978 Congress
extended the deadline to 1982 which opponent’s stated was a violation of the amendment
process. In 1979, five states rescinded their previous ratifications of the amendment. ERA
