Constitutional Equality:State & Federal Initiatives

M. Kathleen Murphy, Founder/Director of MN C.A.F.E. Coalition

Constitutional Equality:

I. History

II. Why?

III. ERA MN Strategy

“Equality of rights

under

the law shall not be

abridged or denied

on account of gender.”

I. History

1800’s: Constitutional Amendments

1920: Suffrage1923: Introduction of ERA1970’s: Trying to Ratify the 27th

Amd.1982: Defeated / Reasons

1868: 14th Amendment(broad definition of citizenship)

Adopted after the Civil War (July 9, 1868) as one of the reconstruction Amendments.

The word “male” was inserted into the Constitution for the first time.

1870: 15th Amendment(voting rights)

The right… to vote shall not be denied or abridged…

on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Note that women are excluded.

1920: 19th Amendment(women’s right to vote)

A 50 year fight finally won women their only Constitutionally guaranteed right —

the right to vote.

1923: Alice Paul Proposes the Equal Rights Amendment

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.

1970’s: Active ERA Movement

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s brought back a resurgence of the fight for an Equal Rights Amendment - led by many great women, including Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan and bell hooks.

’71 & ’72: Overwhelming Support

In June of 1971 the Amendment easily passed the House of Representatives 354 to 24, and through the Senate in March of 1972 with a vote of 84 to 8.

By 1977: 35 states (out of the 38 necessary) had ratified the federal Equal Rights Amendment

Ratified

Passed in 1 body

Not ratified

MN was 26th state to ratify in 1973

• ERA original 7 year deadline: June 1979

• Congress extended deadline: June 30, 1982

At the same time: 1979

• UN General Assembly adopts CEDAW: the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women

(I. History continued)

What happened?

Why didn’t enough states ratify the ERA?

Why wasn’t CEDAW ratified?

What were the opponents’ arguments?

- Scare Tactics

- Insurance lobby

- Feminist Backlash

- Change in Politics

Scare Tactic #1 Would force women out of the home.

Scare Tactic #2Men would NOT be required to provide for their families.

Scare Tactic #3forced sex integration

Fraternities & Sororities

Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts

Same-Sex Public Bathrooms

Scare Tactic #4Women in Combat

Women soldiers are now in almost all areas of our military. They fight and die for our country. What they don’t get is medals of honor when they die--side by side– with the men.

Scare Tactic #5false notion of ‘protected class’

So called “protective” labor laws actually prohibit opportunity

Women were led to believe that current law held us up on a pedestal to ‘protect’ us from ‘hard work’.

Reality: we are still being kept from high wage jobs for this reason.

Why defeated?

Insurance Lobby

Insurance Companies have millions of dollars to spend on lobbying--and they didn’t hesitate to spend it in Illinois, Florida and Missouri.

Lobbying Expenditures by Insurance Companies

$160 M

$128 M

$96 M

$64 M

$32 M

$0 M

Why defeated?

Feminist Backlash

Claims made:• Anti-family & anti-American

• Alimony & child support

laws would be ignored

• Women were not REALLY being discriminated against

Why defeated?

Change in political atmosphere

The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan meant change:

• 1st U.S. President to ever openly oppose equal rights

• Equal rights was removed from the Republican party platform

Constitutional rights had been supported by every US President since Teddy Roosevelt first supported them in 1914.

Now jump ahead 20 years…

2001 Public awareness poll shows 72% of Americans believe the “Constitution makes it clear that male and female citizens are supposed to have equal rights.”

88% replied the Constitution SHOULD make it clear that all citizens have equal rights.

II. WHY?So why is Constitutional Equality still

necessary?

1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.

2) No guarantee women’s rights won’t be rolled back.

3) Judicial standards need to be stricter and clearer.

4) United States needs to prove international commitment.

Why necessary?

1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.

• Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Minnesota Constitution explicitly guarantees that all of the rights it protects are held equally by all citizens without regard to sex.

• The only right that either Constitution specifically affirms as equal for women and men is the right to vote.

Case #1: Equal Pay for Equal Work.

Lilly Ledbetter began her career at Goodyear Tire with the same starting salary as her co-workers. Over 19 years in a supervisory role, she helped to train a number of new hires (all men) and in 1996 she received a “Top Performer” award for her contribution to the company.

But over time she was paid much less than all her male counterparts.

Why necessary?

1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.

Compared to the lowest paid male for a random month she made $3,727 to his $4,286

- that is $.87 to his $1.00 (or 13% less)

- in a year that added up to $6,708 less -- - over 15 years $100,620 less

(assuming no increases for her or him)

Compared to the highest paid male she made $3,727 to his $5,236

- that is $.71 to his $1.00 (or 29% less)

- in a year that added up to $18,108 less -- in 15 years $271,620 less

(assuming no increases for him or her)

Why necessary?

PAY EQUITY

This was actual salary; it doesn’t include the loss in pension, retirement accounts and bonuses.

Case #2: Women’s Healthcare Under Attack• Family planning funding to be eliminated

• Emergency reproductive care could be entirely eliminated

• All men’s healthcare needs are covered by insurance (including Viagra)

• Women pay more in premiums

Why necessary?

1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.

• The Courts hold sex discrimination to a lower standard than discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin.

• Court decisions are inconsistent in applying current law - adding to confusion about how to review sex discrimination claims.

• A Constitutional amendment would send the message that our state has zero tolerance for all forms of sex discrimination.

Why necessary?

2) Need for a clearer and stricter judicial standard for deciding cases of sex discrimination.

• The courts & the legislature have the power to replace existing laws by a mere majority vote.

• Judicial precedents can be eroded or ignored.

Why necessary?

3) Protection from rolling back significant advances over the last 40 years.

• With an ERA in place, progress already made in eliminating sex discrimination would be much harder to reverse.

• Lilly Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire reversed 40 years of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws

• Citizens United v. FEC reversed 63+ years of campaign laws

• Corporate personhood

Why necessary?

3) Protection from rolling back significant advances over the last 40 years.Examples in the US Supreme Court

According to the “Benchmarking Women’sLeadership” report, women’s advancementacross 10 working sectors has stalled at18% across the board.

Why necessary?

3) Protection from rolling back significant advances over the last 40 years.

Gender Violence.

• Endemic = the norm, to be expected

• Femicide reports (28 people in 2010 in MN)

• Reported rapes (average 6 per day reported in MN, but only 16% are assumed to be reported = 38 per day or 13,687 per year,84% know the attacker)

We still have a long way to go for women everywhere to be safe.

Why necessary?

3) Protection from rolling back significant advances over the last 40 years.

Gender Violence.

“Sexual violence is a clear indicator of genderinequality. The single greatest risk factor forbecoming a victim of sexual assault is being awoman.* Violence against women is a systemic,and literally deadly, expression of a fundamentalgender inequity. Sexual violence, and allviolence against women, not only reflects thisfundamental inequality but moreoverperpetuates it.”

- Kate Ravenscroft, 10 Reasons We All Need to Care About Sexual Violence

Why necessary?

Gender Violence.

What any form of sexual violence against women shows is an essential lack of respect for women. It fails to see that women have full and equal rights and that any sexual activity needs to take those rights into account. To put it bluntly, it refuses women the right to not only choose, accept and initiate sexual activity as they see fit, but equally to refuse any sexual activity at any time, under any conditions, according to their own desires. A culture that doesn’t value a woman’s voice, that does not listen to women, will have trouble respecting a woman’s right to choose when, where, how and with whom she engages in sexual activity. Such a culture, as we know only too well, perpetrates violence against women at alarming levels.

Why necessary?

- Kate Ravenscroft, 10 Reasons We All Need to Care About Sexual Violence

• Many other countries - including Iraq, Japan, and emerging nations since the 1970‘s - specifically affirm legal equality of the sexes in their governing documents.

Why necessary?

4) The United States needs to prove our international commitment to equality.

• CEDAW has been ratified by all but 7 countries in the world: Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Nauru, Palau, Tonga and the USA. If the US is a leader--what are we saying?

GLOBAL CHANGE STARTS AT HOME!

But is a State ERA necessary?

• Minnesota Laws: 116 statutes with gender classifications have been overturned in MN since 1972

(current laws not protected)

• A Constitution is the foundation on which all laws are based. It states the fundamental beliefs and principles of our state.

• The MN Constitution protects hunting, fishing and a state lottery...

WHY NOT WOMEN?

22 states have added Equal Rights Amendments to their own Constitutions

ERA adopted in the 1800’sERA adopted from 1972-1982ERA adopted in 1998Sex discrimination protection

Benefits for men…

• Acceptance of men in non traditional work

• Acceptance of pay equality

• Cultural shift• Maternity leaves for

men• Parental rights

Minnesota Strategy

• Build Statewide Coalition

• Legislative Strategy

• Placed on the Ballot

Minnesota Strategy: Build Statewide Coalition

Public awareness campaign.

Go from city to city and build a grassroots community by educating people and letting them know about and encouraging them to join the CAFE Coalition

Minnesota Strategy: Legislative Strategy• Grassroots:

community by community education, awareness & citizen lobbying

• Make into an election year issue in 2016:

in ALL legislative races

• If enough support:passage by both House& Senate (does NOT require Governor’s signature)

Minnesota Strategy: Placed on the Ballot

• A Major advocacy campaign will require resources: money and volunteers!

Once on the ballot, people must know if they DON’T mark their ballot, they are voting NO

Join Us! Spread the word

• Find us on the web www.ERAmn.org

• Follow us on facebook

• Check out our blog

• Display our button

• Tell your friends!

What can you do?

Join Us!Volunteer or Donate to the Coalition

Thank You!

For more information:

www.ERAmn.orgor

eracampaign.netequalrightsamendment.org