Florida Balks At Paying The Cost Of Its Fight Against Gay Marriage
[su_publirb]
Florida’s attempt to keep the gay marriage ban cost taxpayers money, and now the state’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, doesn’t want to pay.
Last week, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi objected to a motion concerning legal fees from lawyers who represented gay couples seeking to have their marriages recognized in Florida. In response, she wrote that because Florida voluntarily dismissed its appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right to same-sex marriage nationwide, the state should not have to cover the cost of the lengthy appeals process it initiated.
Attorneys who worked to defeat the marriage ban said they have not come up with the exact amount they are owed.
However, one suggested that it could be in the realm of $500,000.
“It’s ludicrous,” said Elizabeth White, a Jacksonville civil rights attorney who helped bring one of the cases that challenged the state’s gay marriage ban. “Quite frankly, the state vigorously litigated this. Now they’re saying, ‘We lost, but we don’t want to pay.’ “
[su_center_ad]
[su_facebook]
