203 Years, One College Student, and Why the ERA's 'Deadline' Is a Myth

In 1982, a University of Texas student named Gregory Watson was writing a paper on the constitutional amendment process when he found a footnote that changed everything. James Madison's 1789 congressional pay amendment — which would prevent Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise — had been submitted to states for ratification and then simply forgotten. Only eight states had ratified it. Watson thought that was wrong. He began writing letters to state legislatures.

His professor gave the paper a C. Watson kept writing letters. By 1992 — a decade later — Michigan became the 38th state to ratify. In May 1992, Madison's amendment was certified as the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Time elapsed between proposal and ratification: 203 years. Constitutional objections: zero.

ERA opponents argue that a ratification deadline written into the preamble of the 1972 proposing resolution — not into the amendment text — closed the window on ERA ratification. The Constitution says nothing about deadlines. Article V specifies the process: two-thirds of Congress proposes, three-fourths of states ratify. No clock. Harvard Law's Laurence Tribe and UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky have both reached the same conclusion: the deadline has no textual basis in Article V.

The ERA already has its 38 states. It doesn't need a new ratification campaign. It needs 218 House members a Senate majority to to pass a Joint Resolution Affirming the ERA. Once Congress acts, no president or court—including the Supreme Court-- could credibly challenge the ERA's status as the 28th Amendment. The legal architecture is complete. The political construction is the only work left — and that's exactly the work Driving the Vote for Equality is doing, one Congressional district at a time.

1. The Amendment That's Already Been Ratified — So Why Isn't It Law?

2. No, the Constitution Does Not Guarantee Women Equal Rights. Here's the Proof.

3. The Scare Tactics Were Wrong in 1972. They're Still Wrong.

4. 203 Years, One College Student, and Why the ERA's 'Deadline' Is a Myth

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Gregory Watson changed the Constitution with letters. You can change it with a signature: Sign4ERA.org.