[1] The United States Department of Veterans Affairs denied the disability benefits based on the definition of "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex" under federal statute.

[2] On March 11, 2014, the CAVC dismissed the case as moot after the Secretary of Veterans Affairs advised the Court that he would neither defend nor enforce the federal statute.

[8] On October 13, 2011, Cardona, represented by the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School,[9] filed an appeal in the CAVC against Eric K. Shinseki, the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

[11] In a May 4 letter, DVA informed the speaker of the house that it would not defend the denial of benefits to veterans married to same-sex spouses on equal protection grounds.

"[18] On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5–4 decision in United States v. Windsor declaring Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional "as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment.

[23] Briefs were also filed by retired military officers,[24] disability rights advocates,[25] law professors,[26] and 15 public interest and legal services organizations.