LGBT News US states that fought same-sex marriage owe millions in legal fees

Aussie792 · Sep 10, 2015

States That Fought Same-Sex Marriage Owe Millions | Al Jazeera America

Aljazeera said:

Two months after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the legal debate over same-sex marriage by declaring it a constitutionally protected civil right, attorneys general and governors who fought it are receiving unpleasant souvenirs of failure: Invoices from the attorneys who beat them.

States that defended same-sex marriage bans — most did, to some extent — are now being asked to pay the legal fees for those litigants under a 40-year-old federal law that says the court “in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party … a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.”

Or as Michigan attorney Dana Nessel put it: “It’s the price governments pay for defending bigotry.”

Defeat won’t come cheap — or, in many cases, without further legal wrangling.

Michigan is weighing its response to a $1.9 million demand from attorneys for April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, plaintiffs in one of the four cases that went to the Supreme Court and was decided in June. In Kentucky, another state involved in the Supreme Court showdown, the bill for services rendered is $2.1 million. South Carolina has been ordered to pay $130,000, and Florida’s attorney general is fighting a tab of about $700,000.

Several states have struck agreements already. Pennsylvania settled for $1.5 million, Wisconsin for $1.05 million, Virginia for $580,000, Oregon for $132,000, Colorado for $90,000, Utah for $95,000 and North Dakota for $58,000. The varying prices reflect the length of the battles or their intensity.

“This is exactly what Congress created this law for,” said Stephen Rosenthal, a Miami-based attorney who fought Florida’s ban. “It’s a recognition that people need lawyers to fight the government, which has lots of lawyers, when they feel their civil rights are being violated. To encourage lawyers to take these cases, you need to provide the potential to get paid in the end.”
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A lot of these fees are actually generously small given the amount of time and number of lawyers involved. And, as the article mentions later on, some judges weren't sympathetic to government requests not to pay or to have smaller payments, because they were the ones who dragged out the process in the first place.

Skaros · Sep 10, 2015

I'm actually surprised that Pennsylvania paid 1.5m and Utah only 95k. I thought Pennsylvania didn't try to fight same-sex marriage while Utah fought very hard to re-ban it.

Aussie792 · Sep 10, 2015

Skaros said: ↑

I'm actually surprised that Pennsylvania paid 1.5m and Utah only 95k. I thought Pennsylvania didn't try to fight same-sex marriage while Utah fought very hard to re-ban it.
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Perhaps Pennsylvanian lawyers cost more than Utahan lawyers.

Kaiser · Sep 11, 2015

Kentucky, with $2.1 million?

So, that's where the money is! Now I know why our roads are so ragged...

LGBT News US states that fought same-sex marriage owe millions in legal fees

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