Dear NJWLA Member, Our Public Policy Committee has worked hard to identify legislation that impacts our members’ interests and our mission to support women including, but not limited to, women lawyers. This is a message near and dear to our hearts. Almost 100 years ago Alice Paul proposed a Constitutional amendment that would guarantee men and women would have equal rights throughout the United States. While the Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA”) finally earned bi-partisan support in Congress in 1972, it was up to the states to ratify it. Congress imposed a deadline for ratification but the states failed to meet it. Nevertheless, enough states have now voted in favor of ratification, but the ERA still has not passed. We need to show our support and help end the stalemate in Congress. The ERA is as relevant as ever and needs to get passed – 100 years is too long. Congress needs to hear our voices to get it done. It is so important that we, as New Jersey Women Lawyers, support the passage of the ERA. NJWLA Board believes that the proposed Resolution below is worthy of the Association’s support. The Resolution seeks to have NJWLA join the ERA Coalition and to have NJWLA support the removal of the time limit on the states to ratify the ERA. Please indicate your vote by September 13, 2021 in favor (or not in favor) of the Resolution by email to cskinner@njwla.org.

The following resolution has been approved by the Members of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association on the _____ day of ____ 2021. WHEREAS, the United States Constitution does not explicitly guarantee equal rights and equal protection for the sexes; and WHEREAS, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and state constitutional statements of equality generally do not provide the strict scrutiny for sex-based classifications that is provided for classifications based on race, religion, and national origin; and WHEREAS, state laws are not uniform and federal laws are not comprehensive, and these laws can be repealed or reduced; and WHEREAS, the people of the United States continue to experience the negative effects of the lack of political parity between men and women, including unequal opportunity and pay, health care inequities, and disparate rates of poverty, rape and domestic violence assaults; and WHEREAS, women have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of being the majority of front-line health workers, and managing home life and work life remotely; WHEREAS, the persistent inequities are particularly acute for Black women, Latina women, Asian women, indigenous and Native American women, immigrants, lesbians, transgender women, women with disabilities, and single mothers; and WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) provides that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex;” and WHEREAS, the ERA would help ensure that all people of the United States have the same constitutional protections regardless of sex and gender status; and WHEREAS, the ERA was proposed in 1923 and passed by Congress in 1972, and in 2020 met the constitutional requirement for ratification by 38 states with approval of Nevada (2017), Illinois (2018), and Virginia (2020), and five state rescissions that, by precedent, have never before been recognized as valid; and WHEREAS, the ABA 2020 Survey of Civic Literacy showed overwhelmingly strong support among both men and women of all ages for the adoption of the ERA; and WHEREAS, the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association (NJWLA) has long supported the ratification of the ERA; and WHEREAS, when the 117th US Congress convened in full for the first time on January 21, 2021, bills with bi-partisan support were introduced to remove the time limit placed upon the ERA in 1972; and WHEREAS, the House of Representatives Joint Resolution 17 (HJ Res 17) passed on March 17, 2021 removing the deadline for the ratification of the ERA; and WHEREAS, the Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJ Res 1) was introduced on January 21, 2021 and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and WHEREAS, the ERA Coalition was founded in 2014 to bring concerted, organized action to the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA Coalition has a sister organization, the Fund for Women’s Equality, which promotes public education and outreach on the need for constitutional equality. Comprising more than 120 partner and supporter organizations across the country, the Coalition provides education on, and advocacy for, Constitutional equality; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NJWLA remains steadfast and committed to its support of certification and publication of the Equal Rights Amendment as part of the United States Constitution; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NJWLA is empowered and shall formally join the ERA Coalition and to advocate and support the strategies and initiatives of the ERA Coalition, and urges our members, our leaders, and our communities to do the same; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NJWLA supports the removal of the time limit on the states for ratification and formally supports HJ Res 17 and SJ Res 1 and encourages and endorses same; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that we commit ourselves to advocate at the federal and state levels to ensure that the ERA is added to the United States Constitution to guarantee equal rights under the law to all citizens regardless of sex and gender status.