September 12, 2017 5:05PM # Edith Windsor, R.I.P. By [Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson) --- SHARE Edith Windsor, a heroine of property rights as well as constitutional protection for gay persons, has [died at age 88](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/us/edith-windsor-dead-same-sex-marriage-doma.html). After the IRS levied a $363,053 estate tax bill following the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer, Windsor went to federal court to challenge the constitutionality of Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex couples. She scored a notable 2012 victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, one of the [most respected conservatives](https://allmdfamilies.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/judge-jacobs-strikes-down-doma-section-3/) on the federal bench. The case then went up to the U.S. Supreme Court, with [Cato supporting her cause in an amicus brief](https://www.cato.org/publications/legal-briefs/united-states-v-windsor). As the Cato [amicus program page](https://www.cato.org/about/cato-amicus-program) describes our role: > In a case of interesting bedfellows, Cato joined the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) \[a progressive outfit more usually opposed to our positions\] on a brief arguing that DOMA violated the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.… > > > A five-justice majority agreed with Cato and CAC, holding Section 3 unconstitutional “as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment.” Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, held that the federal government cannot intrude into a state’s traditional role in recognizing marriages to bring disfavor onto an unpopular minority. > > > After supporting marriage equality for longer than nearly any institution in Washington, it was gratifying to see the Court adopt Cato’s position. This was a trailblazing decision and an important step on the road to equal rights for the LGBT community. Elizabeth Wydra of CAC [looked back on the case](https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/supreme-court-review/2013/9/wydra.pdf) and its results in the next (2013) Cato Supreme Court Review. Litigants whose names wind up on landmark cases can sometimes be a tiny bit disappointing to meet in person, but not Edith Windsor. She gave delicious interviews, like [this with the NYT in 2013](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/magazine/edith-windsor-takes-back-what-she-said-about-topless-gay-activists.html?ref=magazine&_r=0) (“I would trust no Clinton anywhere any time.”) Accomplished, outspoken, life-loving, and successful, she cut a comprehensively cool figure — and helped make American history. ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).