CBA Record

CBA PROGRAM EXAMINES HISTORY AND NECESSITY OF EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT The Long Road to Equality By William A. Zolla, Editorial Board Member

I nMarch, 1972, after nearly five decades of legislative efforts, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which declares that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” Following passage, Congress submitted the ERA to the states for ratification, and set a seven- year deadline for the necessary 38 states to approve the measure. Despite strong initial support, only 35 States, not including Illinois, approved the ERA by the original 1979 deadline, leaving the proposed amendment three states short of the 38 needed for ratification. Even after Congress extended the deadline for ratify- ing the ERA to 1982, no additional states approved the measure, and five states which originally approved the ERA passed resolu- tions purporting to rescind their approval. Although the ERA largely faded from national attention after 1982, efforts to revive the measure have continued over the ensuing decades, particularly in recent years as issues of gender inequality have remained the subject of intense debate. In fact, supporters of the ERA have directed much of their focus on Illinois, which is considered one of the states most likely to approve the measure after failing to do so during the original ratification period. In light of the renewed public interest in the ERA, the CBA recently hosted, “The Equal Rights Amendment: Why it Still Matters and How it Will Affect Our Future,” a program which examined the legislative, legal, and political history of the

ment employees, and making it easier to redress systemic bias and discrimination in employment matters without proving an employer intended to discriminate. Representative Lang and Senator Steans, who have lead the effort to pass ERA legislation in Springfield, agreed that the ERA is still important and necessary, and that it can and should be passed in Illinois. Accord- ing to Senator Steans, Illinois is where the ERA essentially died in 1982, and the State’s failure to ratify the amend- ment represents a huge blemish on its historical record. She and Representa- tive Lang both believe that the ERA has overwhelming popular support, and that passage is simply a matter of political considerations. Accordingly, they feel that more public pressure on state legislators is essential for the ERA to be ratified in Illinois.

proposed amendment, both nationally and in Illinois. The program also focused on recent efforts to ratify the ERA in Illinois, and addressed the continued necessity of the ERA, the potential effects that the ERA would have on efforts to combat gender inequality, and the various legal and politi- cal hurdles that must be overcome for the ERA to be ratified. Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin moderated the program, which featured Illinois Solicitor General David Franklin, Illinois State Senator Heather Steans, Illinois State Representative Louis Lang, and Chicago Attorney Deane Brown. Also offering remarks were ElizabethWells and Sharon Eiseman, Co-Chairs of the CBA/WBAI Joint Task Force on Women & Aging, one of the co-sponsors of the program. Solicitor Franklin, who discussed the legislative and political history of the ERA, believes the ERA, if ratified, would provide greater protection against gender discrimination than either current federal laws or the Equal Protection Clause of the 14 th Amendment. Ms. Brown agreed that passage of the ERA could potentially fill in gaps in current gender discrimination laws such as Title VII by, for example, covering independent contractors and govern-

The Chicago Bar Association– through it’s Legislative Committee andBoardofManagers–has offered its full support to the passing of this current piece of legislation. Find out more at www.chicagobar.org/ legislative

16 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017