HomeMy Public PortalAboutRES-CC-2020-12CITY OF MOAB, THE TOWN OF CASTLE VALLEY, AND GRAND COUNTY, UTAH
JOINT RESOLUTION 3208 (2020)
A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF RATIFICATION BY UTAH OF THE EQUAL
RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
WHEREAS, the Utah territory granted women the right to vote in 1870, decades before
statehood; and
WHEREAS, on February 14, 1870, two days after the Utah territory enfranchised
women, Seraph Young, the grandniece of Brigham Young, was the first woman to legally cast a
vote in any election in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 1 of the Utah Constitution, adopted in 1895, states: "The
rights of citizens of the State of Utah to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged on
account of sex. Both male and female citizens of this State shall enjoy equally all civil, political
and religious rights and privileges;" and
WHEREAS, when Utah joined the nation in 1896 as the third state to include women's
voting rights in its constitution, Anna Howard Shaw, one of the nation's greatest suffrage
leaders, proclaimed, "Utah is ... dear to the heart of every woman who loves liberty in these
United States;" and
WHEREAS, in Utah in 1896, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman in the
United States ever to be elected as a state senator, and a statue of her will join that of Brigham
Young in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., recognizing Martha Hughes Cannon
as a pioneer for women's equality in government; and
WHEREAS, Utah should tout our history of being a leader in equal political rights; and
WHEREAS, Utah must reaffirm this historical example of women leadership and
highlight the advances of Utah women today;
WHEREAS, there is reason to celebrate the historic and ongoing accomplishments of
women and their role in numerous positions of importance in the state and to affirm the
autonomy and independence of women to pursue opportunities to serve as elected, appointed,
and hired leaders in the state, and to recognize our historical roots of women's equal political
rights; and
WHEREAS, the Utah constitution is a leading example to the nation that women
everywhere shall have equal political rights and enjoy equally all civil, political, and religious
rights and privileges; and
WHEREAS, equality under the law is a fundamental value of the United States and the
people of Utah; and
WHEREAS, legislation and court decisions have increased women's access to education,
employment, and public service; and
WHEREAS, that same legislation can be repealed and the Supreme Court may strike
legislation or retreat from its own precedent, thereby eliminating or abridging legal rights
currently enjoyed by women, girls, and their families; and
WHEREAS, inclusion of the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States Constitution
would require courts to apply the same strict level of scrutiny it applies to test the
constitutionality of government action based on race, religion, or national origin; and
WHEREAS, Utah residents value the continued participation of women in education, the
military, public service, and other spheres of our society; and
WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed
in 1972 by Congress, which imposed a seven-year ratification deadline on states, later extended
to ten years; and
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution does not expressly authorize Congress to
impose ratification deadlines on the states; and, moreover, if Congress does have such power,
then it also has the power to extend or eliminate its deadlines; and
WHEREAS, well after the 1982 deadline set by Congress, Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in
2018 ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, bringing the total number of states that have ratified
the amendment to 37, just one shy of the 38 needed to satisfy the Constitutional requirement that
an amendment be ratified by three -fourths of the states to become valid; and
WHEREAS, Virginia in 2020 became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights
Amendment — crossing the three -fourths threshold of support required from the states to become
a constitutional amendment; and
WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment states:
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.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Moab City Council, the Council
for the Town of Castle Valley, and the Grand County Council, urge the Legislature of the State
of Utah to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, as proposed by
Congress on March 22, 1972, during the 2020 legislative session.
PASSED AND ADOPTED in open meeting by a majority vote of the legislative bodies
of the City of Moab, the Town of Castle Valley, and Grand County this 18th day of February,
2020.
CITY OF MOAB
Emily S. Niehaus, Mayor
TOWN OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH
)LiaYor
GRAND COUNTY, UTAH
A !"!'EST:
Sommar Johnson, City Recorder
1'EST•
Buck, Town Clerk
ATTEST:
, Clerk/Auditor
C.21/4) ‘01.1 14 w