NEW YORK – A federal judge in Manhattan has joined a growing number of judges across the country by striking down a key component of a federal law denying benefits to partners in a gay marriage. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones said the federal Defense of Marriage Act’s efforts to define marriage “intrude upon the states’ business of regulating domestic relations.”
The ruling came in a case of a woman whose partner died in 2009, two years after they married in Canada. Because of the federal law, she didn’t qualify for the unlimited marital deduction on her late spouse’s estate and was required to pay $363,053 in federal estate tax. Windsor sued the government and as part of her ruling, Jones ordered the government to reimburse Windsor the money she had paid in estate tax.
Civil rights groups, including the ACLU, praised the ruling.
Leave a Reply