Once again, I asked Judge Jones to expedite the case in any way possible.Īnd then I sent another letter. This time, I informed the Court that Edie was suffering from an allergic reaction. Windsor, I wrote the District Court Judge, Barbara Jones, a letter stating that, “Given Edie’s coronary disease… she seeks to pursue this action as expeditiously as possible.”Īnd then I sent Judge Jones another letter. Less than two weeks after we filed the complaint in the case that became United States v. Looking back on this today, I have to admit that the strategy I chose to try to accomplish this goal was somewhat unconventional. I felt like any time we managed to shave off the process, however slight, might be the margin between Edie living to see a victory in her case, or not. After her spouse Thea Spyer passed away, Edie had suffered from a series of heart attacks, which were diagnosed as “broken heart syndrome.” Indeed, Edie asked me and other lawyers on our team to carry her nitroglycerine tablets for her when we attended events-just in case.īecause of her heart condition, I became completely neurotic about making sure that Edie’s case got decided as quickly as possible. That was more than eight years ago, in 2009.
One of the first things that Edie Windsor ever told me was that she only had a few more years left to live.
