Idaho must pay $400k for contesting same-sex marriage

[Foxaèr]

After losing a battle to keep in place its discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage, the state of Idaho has been ordered to pay the legal fees incurred by same-sex couples who challenged the state in order to receive their constitutionally guaranteed civil rights. The Spokesman-Review reports:

“There is no dispute that Plaintiffs are the prevailing parties and are therefore entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale wrote in an order issued late Friday.

The lawyers had sought $467,843; the state’s lawyers had argued for cutting that by more than half to $204,049. But Dale ruled that with only a few exceptions, the legal team led by Boise attorney Deborah Ferguson was entitled to the amounts it claimed, setting the payment at $401,663.

“In order to ensure that lawyers would be willing to represent persons with legitimate civil rights grievances, Congress determined that it would be necessary to compensate lawyers for all time reasonably expended on a case,” the judge wrote, quoting a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Adding to the over $400,000 the state must now pay out to the plantiffs' attorneys is the $87,000 the state spent defending the ban.

http://www.towleroad.com/2014/12/idaho-m...-case.html