US to appeal a decision nullifying ERA extension

The Justice Department will appeal a federal judge's ruling that Congress violated the Constitution by extending the deadline for ratifying the proposed Equal Rights Amendment.

J. Paul McGrath, head of the department's civil division, said the government will appeal a ruling by US District Judge Marion J. Callister to both the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

On Dec. 23, Judge Callister upheld the right of Idaho and other states to withdraw their ratification of the ERA and said Congress did not have the authority to extend the ratification deadline for the proposal.