The proposed amendment currently closest to ratification is the “Equal Rights for Attorneys” Amendment” (ERA), which if ratified would become the 29th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ERA would make lawyers a protected class, and treats as hate speech any “comments, jokes, riddles, witticisms, statements or accusations” that “tend to denigrate, disparage, belittle, deprecate, cast aspersions on, cause ridicule or scorn, or otherwise unjustly sully the reputation of those honorable members who have been called to the Bar.” It was proposed in 1798, has currently been ratified by 13 state legislatures, and has no deadline for ratification.

April Fool’s!