Question For The Class: Wouldn't This Be The Perfect Moment To Re-Introduce The ERA ???

[CTyankee]

32. Yes, I was politically active in that ERA fight back in the late 70s. I was working in D.C. at

the legislative office of the ACLU at the time. You have described one of the two main reasons ERA was defeated, e.g., that it wasn't needed because gains had been made by using the 14th amendment. The response to that was that the 14th amendment does not always prove to have such utility. It was tried unsuccessfully by suffragists as a means of getting the vote for women, and the arduous amendment process had to be undertaken instead. (BTW, the other major argument against the ERA at that time was the issue of women in combat. People freaked out thinking about their daughters fighting in the jungles of Vietnam).

I think it is worth discussing why our constitution is viewed as inflexible by the emerging democracies. Here is the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us/we-the-people-loses-appeal-with-people-around-the-world.html which you may have read. It is an intriguing article.

I'd like to hear what you have to say about it!