States Fight Feds on Gay Marriage

New York, Connecticut, and Vermont are fighting the government in a U.S. court of appeals over whether the feds can “unmarry” legally wed couples under the Defense of Marriage Act. The states have filed amicus briefs in the case of Edie Windsor, a lesbian widow who is fighting to get back $350,000 in estate taxes that the government claimed when Windsor’s partner died. The states, in what is one of the most serious shots fired so far in a looming federal fight over gay marriage, argue that Congress has no power to interfere in marriages sanctioned by the states.