Simone Lawson
The question of whether Congress can impose a deadline on the ratification of a constitutional amendment has been a subject of debate, with Article V of the US Constitution not explicitly addressing the issue. The first constitutional amendment with a time limit was the 18th Amendment, which had a seven-year deadline chosen by Congress. Since then, Congress has imposed a time limit on the ratification of all proposed amendments, except for the 19th Amendment, recognising women's suffrage. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a notable example of an amendment that faced challenges in meeting its ratification deadline, sparking discussions about the validity of expired amendments. The power of Congress to adjust or remove time limits and the ability of states to rescind their ratifications are complex legal questions that have been debated in the Supreme Court.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First constitutional amendment with a time limit | 18th Amendment (Prohibition), proposed in 1917 |
| Time limit of 18th Amendment | Seven years |
| Amendments without a time limit | 19th Amendment (Women's Suffrage), Child Labor Amendment, 27th Amendment |
| Amendments with time limit in text | 20th, 21st, 22nd Amendments |
| Amendments with time limit in proposing clause | 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th Amendments |
| Amendment with no deadline | Equal Rights Amendment |
| Amendment with deadline extended | Equal Rights Amendment |
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What You'll Learn
The Eighteenth Amendment was the first with a time limit
The Eighteenth Amendment was the first constitutional amendment with a time limit set for its ratification. Proposed in 1917, it established Prohibition. The amendment included a seven-year deadline chosen by Congress, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Dillon v. Gloss (1921). This case set a precedent, determining that Congress had the incidental authority to specify a deadline for ratification.
The Eighteenth Amendment was also unique in that it included a one-year time delay before it would take effect after ratification. This was the first amendment to feature such a provision. The inclusion of a time limit in the amendment's text meant that it could not be altered by Congress once ratified by the states.
The question of whether Congress can place a deadline on the ratification of a proposed amendment has been a subject of debate. While the text of Article V does not specifically address this issue, the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution implicitly authorises Congress to "fix a definite period" for ratification. However, subsequent commentators have disagreed with this interpretation, arguing that the Constitution does not grant Congress this power.
The Eighteenth Amendment was an exception to the trend of amendments without time limits, with the Nineteenth Amendment (recognising women's suffrage) and the unratified Child Labor Amendment also lacking deadlines. Since the Eighteenth Amendment, Congress has attached time limits to the ratification of all proposed amendments, with the most recent example being the 27th Amendment, which took over two centuries to be ratified by the requisite number of states.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) provides an interesting case study in the debate surrounding ratification deadlines. While it did not include a time limit in its text, Congress extended its ratification deadline in 1978, demonstrating its belief in its ability to alter such constraints. However, the legality of this extension was questioned, and the amendment ultimately fell short of the required number of state ratifications.
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The Nineteenth Amendment had no time limit
The Nineteenth Amendment, which extended the right to vote to women, had no time limit set for its ratification. The Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878, but it took more than 41 years for it to secure the necessary two-thirds vote in each house. The suffrage amendment finally passed the House of Representatives on May 21, 1919, and the Senate on June 4, 1919. It was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications on August 18, 1920, and going into effect on the same day. The Nineteenth Amendment was proclaimed as part of the Constitution on August 26, 1920.
The lack of a time limit for the Nineteenth Amendment's ratification was an exception to the practice that began with the proposal of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1917. For political reasons, Congress included a seven-year deadline for the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, which established Prohibition. The Supreme Court upheld this time limit in Dillon v. Gloss, ruling that the Constitution implicitly authorises Congress to "fix a definite period" for ratification.
The question of whether Congress may place a deadline on the ratification of a proposed amendment has been a subject of debate. While some argue that Congress has the power to determine whether ratification occurs within a "reasonable time," others contend that the Constitution does not grant Congress this role. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) advised that in the absence of a congressionally proposed deadline, an amendment remains pending before the states.
The Nineteenth Amendment's adoption faced significant opposition, particularly in the South, and its fate appeared uncertain at times. However, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, ensuring its adoption. The amendment's adoption was also challenged in court, with opponents arguing that it destroyed state autonomy and that some ratifying states violated their rules of procedure. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of the amendment in Leser v. Garnett, stating that state ratification was a federal function granted under Article V of the Constitution.
The Nineteenth Amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage in the United States, both at the state and national levels. While it granted women the right to vote, it failed to fully enfranchise women of colour, who continued to face political limitations and obstacles when running for elective offices.
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The Child Labor Amendment also had no time limit
The Child Labor Amendment (CLA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would specifically authorise Congress to regulate "labour of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was proposed on June 2, 1924, following Supreme Court rulings in 1918 and 1922 that federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16 were unconstitutional. The Child Labor Amendment, like the Nineteenth Amendment recognising women's suffrage, had no time limit attached.
The CLA was drafted by the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and quickly passed through Congress in 1924. However, it has never been ratified, experiencing two waves of ratification momentum in the 1920s and 1930s. By the mid-1930s, the majority of state legislatures had ratified the amendment, but it has not been ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the states according to Article V of the Constitution, and none has ratified it since 1937. Interest in the amendment waned following the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which implemented federal regulation of child labour with the Supreme Court's approval in 1941.
The story of the CLA began long before its drafting. Child labour reform became a point of emphasis in the late nineteenth century due to the Industrial Revolution and the end of chattel slavery, which increased the demand for workers. From 1907 to 1922, there were three major attempts at federal child labour legislation. The first was never signed into law, and the second, the Keating-Owen Act, which prohibited the interstate transportation of products from factories that used child labour, was struck down by the Supreme Court.
The CLA sought to grant Congress the power to "limit, regulate, and prohibit the labour of persons under eighteen years of age". After a long battle for the sympathies of the Supreme Court, Congress was allowed to assume this authority under its power to regulate commerce as declared in United States v. Darby (1941). While the CLA was never ratified, the Amendment has been informally adopted, and no other unratified amendment can say the same.
In 2024, the New Hampshire House of Representatives adopted a unicameral House Resolution reaffirming support for the 1933 ratification of the CLA. Supporters of ratification have argued that the amendment could strengthen existing federal child labour protections, especially with some states loosening their child labour laws in recent years. The CLA continues to be a proposed amendment, awaiting ratification by the sufficient number of states.
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The Twenty-second Amendment established term limits for the presidency
The Twenty-second Amendment to the US Constitution, which was ratified in 1951, established term limits for the presidency. This amendment limits a person from being elected to the office of the president more than twice. It also stipulates that no person who has held the office of president, or acted as president, for more than two years of a term to which another person was elected, can be elected to the office of the president more than once.
The Twenty-second Amendment was proposed in response to Franklin D. Roosevelt's unprecedented four terms as president, which ended in 1944. Roosevelt was elected four times consecutively, from 1932 to 1944, and his multiple terms in office raised questions about term limits for the presidency. Before the Twenty-second Amendment, there was an unofficial tradition for presidents to serve no longer than two terms, following George Washington's precedent.
The Twenty-second Amendment has experienced a split reception, and it has resurrected debates about the nature of the office of the president. Several attempts have been made to modify or repeal the amendment. Arguments in favour of repealing it include having consistent leadership during a crisis and allowing non-consecutive terms. However, the amendment has not been applied yet, and there are questions about its meaning and application, especially in relation to the Twelfth Amendment.
The Twenty-second Amendment is not the only constitutional amendment with time limits set for its ratification. The Eighteenth Amendment, which established Prohibition, was the first amendment with a time limit, proposed in 1917 with a seven-year deadline. The Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Amendments also had seven-year time limits.
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The Equal Rights Amendment's deadline was extended
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first introduced in Congress in 1923. It was written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman and aimed to explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. Despite being reintroduced in every subsequent Congress, it made little progress until the 1970s, when it gained support from the rising women's movement. In 1971, it was reintroduced by Representative Martha Griffiths and approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The following year, in 1972, it was approved by the U.S. Senate and sent to the states for ratification, with a seven-year deadline for ratification set by Congress.
The ERA's initial deadline was March 22, 1979, but as this date approached, it became clear that the amendment would not gain the necessary support from 38 states in time. In response, Congress extended the deadline by three years to June 30, 1982. However, even with this extension, only 35 states had ratified the amendment by the new deadline, and some states had even rescinded their ratifications. Despite this, advocates argued that the ERA could still be adopted if three more states ratified it.
The legality of extending the ERA's deadline has been questioned. While some argue that Congress has the power to adjust or remove time constraints, others, including the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), contend that Congress does not have the authority to retroactively extend the deadline once it has expired. The Supreme Court has not provided a clear precedent on this issue, and the ongoing efforts to ratify the ERA continue to grapple with these legal complexities.
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Frequently asked questions
The Eighteenth Amendment, also known as the Prohibition Amendment, was the first to have a time limit set for its ratification. The limit was set at seven years.
The Nineteenth Amendment, recognising women's suffrage, was sent to the states in 1919 with no time limit for ratification.
The Eighteenth Amendment was the first to have a time limit, and the Twentieth Amendment was the second. The Twentieth Amendment also had a seven-year time limit.
The most recent amendment to the US Constitution is the Twenty-seventh Amendment, which had no deadline for ratification. It was passed by Congress in 1789 and ratified in 1992.
