Judge Barbara S. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) ruled on June 6 that Edie Windsor, the surviving spouse of Thea Spyer, is entitled to a refund of estate taxes of $363,053 plus interest from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because she is entitled to the spousal exemption based on their Canadian marriage.
Finding that the federal definition of marriage in Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the 5th Amendment