Three very important court decisions were issued during the week of May 6. It should be noted that all are subject to an appeal to a higher court, so none is final. First, with regard to the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, a single judge of the Supreme Court of Livingston County issued a decision at the trial court level removing the proposed amendment from the November ballot. Judge Doyle looked at Section 1 of Article 9 of the constitution, which sets forth the procedure for the adoption of constitutional amendments. It requires the legislature to refer a proposed amendment to the Attorney General, who must within 20 days issue an opinion regarding its effect on other provisions of the constitution. The legislature may act on the proposal after the Attorney General submits her opinion or after 20 days have passed without receipt of an opinion.

A NYS Equal Rights Amendment may be on the November 2024 ballot. Currently, our NYS constitution only protects against racial and religious discrimination. The 2024 NYS ERA would prohibit discrimination by the government based on a person’s ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex- including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. It would also protect against any government actions that would curtail a person’s reproductive autonomy or their access to reproductive health care. If voters approve the constitutional amendment, the ERA gets added to our constitution and millions of New Yorkers gain new protections against discrimination.

I was out walking early one morning a few weeks ago and saw and heard the OGS garbage trucks coming down the road. Several men were collecting trash barrels and emptying them as the truck slowly passed by, and I looked up to see a woman driving the truck. I was exhilarated and excited - like a 3 year old - I waved to her and smiled. And she smiled back...