WES MOORE, Governor J.R. 1
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Joint Resolution 1
(Senate Joint Resolution 1)
A Senate Joint Resolution concerning
Affirming the Federal Equal Rights Amendment
FOR the purpose of urging the Administration of President Joseph R. Biden to publish,
without delay, the federal Equal Rights Amendment as the Twenty –eighth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and urging the U.S. Congress to pass a joint
resolution affirming the Equal Rights Amendment as the Twenty –eighth
Amendment; and generally relating to the federal Equal Rights Amendment.
WHEREAS, In 1972, the 92nd Congress of the United States, at its second session,
in both houses, by a constitutional majority of two–thirds, adopted the following proposition
to amend the U.S. Constitution:
“JOINT RESOLUTION RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED
(TWO–THIRDS OF EACH HOUSE CONCURRING THEREIN), That the following article
is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid
to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures
of three–fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by
the Congress:
ARTICLE ______
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.”;
and
WHEREAS, Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides a two–step procedure for the
adoption of an amendment; and
WHEREAS, The first requirement for the adoption of an amendment under Article
V is the proposal of an amendment either by a two–thirds vote of both houses of Congress,
or by a convention called by application of two–thirds of the states; and
WHEREAS, The second requiremen t for the adoption of an amendment under
Article V is ratification of an amendment by three–fourths of the states; and
J.R. 1 2024 LAWS OF MARYLAND
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WHEREAS, The U.S. Constitution does not limit the time for states to ratify an
amendment and does not grant Congress the authority to unilaterally limit the time by
which an amendment may be ratified; and
WHEREAS, A time limitation for the ratification of amendments by the states would
be a substantive change to the U.S. Constitution; and
WHEREAS, To have full force and effect, a subs tantive change to the U.S.
Constitution must be within the text of an amendment so that it may be ratified by the
states as part of the requirements of Article V; and
WHEREAS, The time limitation on state ratifications was in the preamble section of
the resolution by Congress and not within the text of the amendment presented to states
for state approval; and
WHEREAS, Because of the placement of the time limitation, the states ratified the
text of the Equal Rights Amendment but did not ratify the time limit by Congress; and
WHEREAS, A time limit was approved in the Equal Rights Amendment by Congress
in 1972, but has not been subsequently approved by the states and thus is without force or
effect; and
WHEREAS, In comparison, in 1978, Congress passed the District of Columbia
Voting Rights Amendment, which included a time limitation within the text of the
Amendment offered to the states for ratification; and
WHEREAS, The time limitation for the District of Columbia Voting Rights
Amendment ended before ratification of the amendment by three–fourths of the states; and
WHEREAS, Because the time limit was within the text of the District of Columbia
Voting Rights Amendment, the time limit had full force and effect and the amendment
expired in 1985; and
WHEREAS, In comparison, the Twenty–first Amendment and the Twenty–second
Amendment include time limitations within the text of each amendment, and the timelines
were ratified by three–fourths of the states in accordance with the text of the amendments;
and
WHEREAS, In 1789, the First Congress proposed, in accordance with Article V, the
Madison Amendment relating to compensation of members of Congress; and
WHEREAS, Over 202 years later, the Madison Amendment was ratified by
three–fourths of the states; and
WHEREAS, In 1992, having finally met the requirements of Article V, the Madison
Amendment was published as the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by the WES MOORE, Governor J.R. 1
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Archivist of the United States during the Administration of President George H.W. Bush;
and
WHEREAS, Following publication of the Madison Amendment by the Archivist of
the United States, Congress affirmed the Madison Amendment as the Twenty–seventh
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and
WHEREAS, As of January 27, 2020, three–fourths of the states have ratified the
Equal Rights Amendment; and
WHEREAS, Unlike the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, the Equal
Rights Amendment does not contain a time limit in its text where it would be of full force
and effect; and
WHEREAS, In contrast to the Madison Amendment, which took 203 years to ratify,
the Equal Rights Amendment took only 48 years to ratify; and
WHEREAS, The text of Article V of the U.S. Constitution grants the states the power
of ratification, not rescission; and
WHEREAS, Samuel Johnson’s dictionary of 1755 defines “ratify” as “to confirm; to
settle”; and
WHEREAS, Bouvier’s Law Dictionary of 1856, considered to be the first American
legal dictionary, states that a ratification once done, “cannot be revoked or recalled”; and
WHEREAS, James Madison wrote in a July 20, 1788, letter to Alexander Hamilton
that ratification is “in toto and for ever”; and
WHEREAS, Various attempts to rescind ratifications of provisions of the U.S.
Constitution or its amendments, including the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth
Amendments, have never been honored; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly of Maryland set a precedent for this resolution
in 1961 by passing House Joint Resolution 14 urging Congress to pass the Equal Rights
Amendment; and
WHEREAS, Maryland was one of the early states to ratify the Equal Rights
Amendment in May 1972, two months after Congress proposed it for ratification; and
WHEREAS, Maryland adopted the Maryland Equal Rights Amendment to the
Maryland Constitution in 1972; and
WHEREAS, The Maryland Equal Rights Amendment is only effective to the degree
that it does not conflict with federal law; and
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WHEREAS, The Maryland Attorney General filed an amicus brief in 2022 in support
of a lawsuit brought by three ratifying states to require the Archivist of the United States
to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment as an amendment to the U.S.
Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Over several decades, the General Assembly of Maryland has passed
laws and created protections attempting to guarantee equal rights under the law for all
Marylanders, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed,
religion, or sex – which includes legal equality and protection from discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy
outcomes, and decisions regarding reproductive healthcare or other aspects of an
individual’s bodily autonomy; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That it is the
opinion of the General Assembly of Maryland that the Equal Rights Amendment meets the
requirements of Article V of the U.S. Constitution and should be recognized as the 28th
Amendment; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the General Assembly of Maryland urges the Administration of
President Joseph R. Biden to publish, without delay, the Equal Rights Amendment as the
28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the General Assembly of Maryland urges the Congress of the
United States to pass a joint resolution affirming the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the General Assembly of Maryland calls on other states to join in
this action by passing similar resolutions; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of
Legislative Services to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States of
America, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20500; the Honorable Kamala
Harris, Vice President of the United States, President of the United States Senate, Senate
Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; the Honorable Colleen Joy Shogan, Archivist of
the United States, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20408; the Maryland Congressional Delegation; and the
presiding officer of each House of the legislature of each state of the United States, with
the request that it be circulated among leadership of the legislative branch of the state
governments.
Signed by the President, the Speaker, and the Governor, May 9, 2024.