The Equal Rights Amendment: Torn

Mark Rubin

On January 15, 2020, the Virginia legislature ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Both legislative bodies passed it. (Candidly, I can’t figure out whether Governor Ralph Northam has any role in the ratification process. I think not, but I’m not sure.)

Congress passed the ERA when the Senate approved it on March 22, 1972. (I was 14 and now I’m 62, for whatever that’s worth.) The amendment gave the states seven years to ratify it. Later, Congress passed an extension of the deadline from March 22, 1979 to June 30, 1982. By June 30, 1982, 37 states had ratified the ERA; however, by the same deadline, five states from among the 37 revoked their

Affordable Care Act … Redux -dux -dux -dux

“Just when you thought it was safe …” it’s not! Late on Friday, December 14, 2018, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued a 55-page Memorandum Opinion and Order in Texas v. United States, Case No. 4:18-cv-00167-O, filed in the District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Texas, along with 19 other states, sought a finding that, with the elimination of the penalty for failing to purchase health insurance, the ACA aka Obamacare violates the U.S. Constitution. The argument? Here it is:

• In NFIB v. Sebelius, Nos. 11-393, -398, and -400, a bare majority of the U.S.Supreme Court held that because the ACA regulated inactivity—the decision to

The Ninth Circuit: A Tiresome Trope

Mark Rubin

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit exists. For real! But it’s also a tiresome trope, and just the sort of stand-in you’d expect from Tiresome Trump our president, Donald J. Trump.

Last week’s rant was just that: a rant. POTUS didn’t like a decision from a U.S. District Court judge from California, one of the states which comprise the Ninth Circuit. So, “Obama judge” and this gem, from a 5:21 a.m. tweet on Thanksgiving Day:

Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in