ARLAINE ROCKEY SHORT BIO
ERA Attorney Arlaine Rockey
Attorney Arlaine Rockey went to law school with the aim of representing battered women and protecting children from abuse, 40 years ago, at the University of Miami School of Law. She encourages women to become lawyers and to work for women’s rights.
She has been practicing nationally over 25 years, including all over FL and NC for over 35 years, representing #ProtectiveMothers helping them to protect their children from physical and sexual abuse by their fathers.
The Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA) was fully ratified by the last three of the 38 necessary states on 27 January 2020, after a valiant and successful effort led by EqualMeansEqual.org.
In October 1991, Ms. Rockey founded the Association for the Reform of NC Marital Rape Laws, that became a statewide multi-disciplinary coalition, which ultimately resulted in the NC legislature completely repealing the NC Marital Rape Exemption, barring any prosecution of husbands for sexually assaulting their wives prior to their separation, on July 5th 1993.
Currently, Ms. Rockey is handling NC trial and appellate cases for Protective Mothers, seeking to have the courts recognize the ERA for women’s equal rights, with the intent to have it enforced and published as the 28th Amendment, and most importantly, also arguing that women deserve to have the courts use “Strict Scrutiny” when deciding discrimination, based even on the Equal Protection and Due Process (fairness) provisions in the US and NC Constitutions. When courts use strict scrutiny, the people seeking relief have a 70% chance of winning their cases. Currently, women are relegated to a lower level of protection from the courts.
You can read more about Ms. Rockey and her ERA Legal Blog on her websites https://ArlaineRockey.com and also https://EQUALITYforWOMENisTheLAW.com, which has a link to the moving documentary “RATIFY” about the fight in Virginia to have their state ratify the ERA. Virginia became the last necessary state (the 38th) to ratify the ERA on January 27th, 2020. That vote legally made the ERA the legal 28th Amendment, but Trump 1.0 wrongfully blocked the US Archivist from following the federal law that required the Archivist to publish all Amendments immediately after the amendment was ratified by ¾ of the states. Ms. Rockey suggests you look at her websites and the links to organizations and documents in them.
Read more about her career at her Legal Experience page on her website. She is now a Legal Advisor to the most effective national ERA activist group EqualMeansEqual.org (at Legal Actions, scroll to her Dec. 20, 2020 ERA Amicus Brief in the US Supreme Court). Ms. Rockey also serves on the National ERA Publication Task Force, UntilWomenAreEqual.org. Check it out and please participate and spread the word of our national actions on July 4th and join us in your city in reading the Women's Declaration of Independence and sing new women’s rights songs to bring attention to the fact that after 250 years, women are still second-class citizens. Demand that the ERA be respected and accepted by everyone. It brings women to full equality. No other fully ratified Amendment has been ignored by the government. We must ring our liberty bell.