Paul, Weiss is committed to providing impactful pro bono legal assistance to individuals and organizations in need. Our program is all-encompassing, spanning the core issues facing our society.
President Directs Department of Justice Not to Defend Defense of Marriage Act in Federal Lawsuits
President Obama has directed the Department of Justice not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in pending federal litigations in the Second Circuit, including one filed in the Southern District of New York by Paul, Weiss, together with the ACLU and NYCLU, on behalf of our client Edith Windsor.
DOMA, passed in 1996, defines marriage for all federal purposes as a legal union between one man and one woman. Windsor, now 81, married her late spouse Thea Spyer in 2007 after a 42-year engagement. When Spyer passed away in 2009, Windsor had to pay approximately $350,000 in federal estate tax upon the death of her spouse, because Spyer's estate was not allowed to claim the estate tax marital deduction because of the operation of DOMA.
The Paul, Weiss suit challenging DOMA directly raised the issue of what level of scrutiny should be applied to laws discriminating against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation, as no established standard of review for such laws existed in the Second Circuit.
According to a statement from Attorney General Eric Holder, "After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases."
The Paul, Weiss team included, among others, litigation partner Andrew Ehrlich and associates Julie Fink, James Fleming, Sarah Foley, Jaren Janghorbani, Neil Kelly, and Jerome Mayer-Cantú; personal representation partner Alan Halperin and associate Lauren Cutson Janian; and tax partner Rick Bronstein and associate Colin Kelly.