Ferriero Letter of Oct. 25, 2012 To Rep. Maloney

NATIONAL ARCHIVES ARCHIVIST NITED STATES 25 October 2012 The Honorable Carolyn Maloney U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Ms. Maloney: Thank you for your letter requesting information about the ratification status of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the role played by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in certifying amendments to the Constitution. You asked for a list of the states that ratified the ERA, and a list of states that either rejected the amendment, or rescinded an earlier ratification vote. I have attached a chart showing this information. ‘You also asked for legal verification of statements on NARA‘s website page "The Constitutional Amendment Process” (www.archives.gov/federal-register/constition). This webpage states that a proposed Amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the states, indicating that Congressional action is not needed to certify that the Amendment has been added to the Constitution. It also states that my certification of the legal sufficiency of ratification documents is final and conclusive, and that a later rescission of a state's ratification is not accepted as valid. These statements are derived from 1 U.S.C. 106b, which says that: “Whenever official notice is received at the National Archives and Records Administration that any amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United States has been adopted, according to the provisions of the Constitution, the Archivist of the United States shall forthwith cause the amendment to be published, with his certificate, specifying the ‘States by which the same may have been adopted, and that the same has becomevalid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution of the United States.” Under the authority granted by this statute, once NARA receives at least 38 state ratifications of a proposed Constitutional Amendment, NARA publishes the amendment along with a certification of the ratifications and it becomes part of the Constitution without further action by the Congress. Once the process in 1 U.S.C. 106b is completed the Amendment becomes part of the Constitution and cannot be rescinded. Another Constitutional Amendment would be needed to abolish the new Amendment. T hope this information answers your question and is of use to you. If you would like more information or would like to discuss this issue further, please do not hesitate to contact me again. Sincerely, Sadly — DAVID S. FERRIERO Archivist of the United StatesEQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT - PROPOSED MARCH 22, 1972 LIST OF STATE RATIFICATION ACTIONS The following dates reflect the date of the state legislature's passage, the date of filing withthe Governor or Secretary of State, or the date of certification by the Governor or Secretary of State, whichever is the earliest date included in the official documents sent to the National Archives, Office of the Federal Register. STATE RATIFICATION STATE RATIFICATION Alabama not ratified Montana Jan, 25, 1974 Alaska April 5, 1972 Nebraska* March 29, 1972 Arizona not ratified Nevada not ratified Arkansas not ratified New Hampshire March 23, 1972 California Nov. 13, 1972 New Jersey April 17, 1972 Colorado April 21, 1972 New Mexico Feb. 28, 1973 Connecticut March 15, 1973 New York May 18, 1972 Delaware March 23, 1972 North Carolina not ratified Florida not ratified North Dakota Feb. 3, 1975 Georgia not ratified Ohio Feb. 7, 1974 Hawaii March 22, 1972 Oklahoma not ratified Idaho" March 24, 1872 Oregon Feb. 8, 1973 Uinots not ratified Pennsylvania Sept. 26, 1972 Indiana Jan, 24, 1977 Rhode Island April 14, 1972 lowe March 24, 1972 South Carolina not ratified Kansas March 28, 1972 South Dakota’ Feb. §, 1973 Kentucky* June 27, 1972 Tennessee" April 4, 1972 Louisiana not ratified Texas March 90, 1972 » Maine dan 18, 1974 Utah Not ratified Maryland’ May 26, 1972 Vermont March 1, 1973 Massachusetts -* * June 21,1972 Virginia not ratified Michigan May 22, 1972 Washington March 22, 1973 Minnesota Feb. 8, 1973 West Virginia April 22, 1972 Mississippi not ratified Wisconsin April 26, 1972 Missouri not ratified Wyoming Jan, 26, 1973 * Purported Rescission Nebraska March 15, 1973 Tennessee April 28, 1974 Idaho Feb. 8, 1977 Kentucky March 20, 1978 South Dakota March 5, 1979

Ferriero Letter of Oct. 25, 2012 To Rep. Maloney

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ferriero Letter of Oct. 25, 2012 To Rep. Maloney

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like