Archives West Finding Aid

Chiefly documents relating to activities of Boise NOW and the statewide organization in Idaho in support of the ERA, along with photocopies of clippings from Idaho newspapers (chiefly the Idaho Statesman, in Boise), reporting on ERA support and opposition, the case of Idaho v. Freeman, calls for the disqualification of Judge Marion Callister, and the excommunication of pro-ERA Mormon Sonia Johnson. Also includes papers relating to the restoration of the Boise City Hall Fountain, a project spearheaded by Boise NOW. Originally presented to the city of Boise by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1910, the outdoor drinking fountain was restored by NOW and moved to the site of the new city hall in 1980.

As the March 1979 deadline for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment approached, it appeared that the requisite number of states would not ratify in time. Proponents of the amendment convinced Congress to extend the deadline until June 30, 1982. At the same time, opponents of the amendment in several states (including Idaho) convinced their state legislatures to rescind earlier ratifications. The Carter administration (through the General Services Administration, the federal agency responsible for certifying ratification) maintained that once a state had approved the amendment it could not reverse itself, and refused to remove those states from the list of ratified states. In April 1979, Idaho Attorney General David Leroy filed suit in federal district court against the administrator of the GSA, Admiral Rowland G. Freeman, to test the validity of the Idaho legislature's rescission and to question the constitutionality of the Congressional vote to extend the ERA ratification deadline as well. In December 1981, after hearing arguments in federal district court in Boise, Judge Marion Callister ruled in favor of Idaho's suit, declaring that states could indeed rescind approvals and that Congress could not extend a pre-ordained deadline. The National Organization for Women, in NOW v. Idaho, appealed Callister's decision. The U.S. Supreme Court took up the appeal and stayed implementation of Callister's decision until the extended deadline passed. After the new deadline passed without any more states ratifying the amendment, the Supreme Court dismissed the case as moot and did not rule on the merits of Judge Callister's decision.

This series consists chiefly of mailings and information sheets from the national NOW office on issues surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment. Also included is a document from the Mountain States Legal Foundation stating the case against the constitutionality of extending the ratification deadline.