The United States v. Windsor is a historic trial in the US Supreme Court, during which the court ruled to repeal the so-called Chapter 3 of the Marriage Protection Act (DOMA). The court found that the law violates personal freedoms and is contrary to the fifth amendment to the US Constitution .
| Windsor v. United States | |
|---|---|
 US Supreme Court | |
| The debate took place on March 27, 2013 Closed June 26, 2013 | |
| Full title | United States, Petitioner v. Edith Schlain Windsor, in Her Capacity as Executor of the Estate of Thea Clara Spyer, et al. |
| A source | 570 US ____ ( more ) 133 S.Ct. 2675; 186 L.Ed.2d 808 |
| Opinions | |
| Most | Kennedy, joined Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Special opinion | Roberts, Scalia, Alito, joined Thomas |
Edith Windsor and Tia Spire, same-sex couple from New York State, married in Ontario, Canada. Since 2007, their marriage has been legal in the state of New York in which they lived. Spire died in 2009, bequeathing her real estate Windsor. Windsor has filed a request for exemption from inheritance tax because it is the legal widow of a widower or widow under US law to inherit the property of the deceased spouse without paying taxes. However, according to federal law (namely, chapter 3 of DOMA), the term “spouse” refers only to spouses of heterosexual couples. Windsor's application was rejected, she was required to pay inheritance tax in the amount of $ 363,053.
On November 9, 2010, Windsor filed a lawsuit in New York asking for a refund of the tax paid because “DOMA makes a distinction between different forms of marriage for no reason.” On February 23, 2013, US Attorney General Eric Holder decided that the Obama administration would agree with the applicant’s arguments and would not defend DOMA in the Supreme Court. On June 6, 2012, Judge Barbara Jones decided that Chapter 3 of the DOMA is unconstitutional and, in particular, contrary to the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, and obliged the federal government to return the tax paid by the plaintiff. The appellate court of the second circuit upheld the decision. On October 18, 2012, a bipartisan House of Representatives commission and the Department of Justice appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court. In December 2012, the court accepted the appeal. On March 27, 2013, the Court heard oral arguments by the parties. On June 26, 2013, with five votes to four, the Supreme Court overturned Chapter 3 of DOMA as “imprisonment in violation of the Fifth Amendment”.