May 3, 2021
Attorney
General Ford Continues to Fight
for
the Recognition of the Equal Rights Amendment
~~
Judge grants request filed by the Trump Department of Justice and
Republican AGs to dismiss landmark civil rights lawsuit to have the ERA
recognized as the 28th Amendment
Carson City, NV – Today,Attorney
General Aaron D. Ford issued a statement following a judge’s ruling granting a
request filed by the Trump Department of Justice and Republican attorneys
general to dismiss his landmark civil rights lawsuit to have the Equal Rights
Amendment recognized as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Our efforts to close
the gap between gender equality in the Constitution have been met with many
roadblocks, including those from the Trump Administration and Republican attorneys
general, who have made it clear that they do not believe women should be
guaranteed equal rights in this country,”
said AG Ford. “How much longer should the women in this country wait to be
afforded equal protection under this country’s founding documents?”
“Equality is and should
be for both men and women. I, along Virginia AG Mark Herring and Illinois AG
Kwame Raoul, will continue to fight for equal rights and will not stop until
these rights are permanently written into our nation’s history. I welcome any
support from both the Biden Administration and Congress in ensuring that this
amendment is recognized as part of the Constitution once and for all,” AG Ford continued.
The Equal Rights
Amendment states in pertinent part that “equality of all rights under the law
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account
of sex.” Originally introduced in 1923, it was finally adopted in Congress in 1972
with broad, bipartisan support. Under the leadership of Senator Patricia
Spearman, Nevada ratified the Equal Rights Amendment on March 21, 2017, when AG
Ford served as Senate Majority Leader. Illinois ratified the ERA shortly after
in 2018.
On January 30, 2020, AG Ford sued to ensure the
Equal Rights Amendment was recognized as the 28th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution,
following Virginia’s ratification of the ERA. In May of last year, the Trump
Administration filed a motion to dismiss AG Ford’s lawsuit, seeking to
block gender equality from being added to the Constitution. In June, AG Ford filed a brief opposing the Trump
Administration’s motion to dismiss his lawsuit. Also last year, AG Ford moved for summary
judgment
in his landmark civil rights lawsuit, as well as filed a brief opposing the
intervening states’ (Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee)
motion for summary judgement.
The filed complaint is attached.
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