After voting to initiate legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this month, House Republican leaders now turn to their lawyers for action. The House GOP legal counsel will take on Edith Windsor, her legal representatives and the Department of Justice when their case comes before the court on May 9, 2011.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis set a status conference for 9:30 a.m. on May 9 for the court to discuss how it will proceed in light of the Obama administration’s announcement last month regarding closer scrutiny of DOMA cases.
Although legally married in Toronto in 2007, Edith Windsor and her partner, Thea Spyer, were not recognized as a legal couple by the U.S. government after Spyer’s death. Windsor was subsequently forced to pay a $350,000 estate bill and now seeks reparations through the court. Windsor’s attorney, Robert Kaplan, argues that the $350,000 payment was “in violation of the constitution.” House GOP lawyers will seek to prove that the limitations in DOMA responsible for Windsor’s situation are not unconstitutional.
Windsor and Spyer are the subjects of the documentary film Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, and their 2007 wedding was featured in The New York Times.
