Florida’s attorney general won’t pay legal fees after losing fight against same-sex marriage

Source: RawStory

TOM BOGGIONI
17 AUG 2015 AT 08:17 ET

After fighting tooth and nail to deny same-sex couples the right to get married, Florida’s attorney general is now refusing to reimburse attorneys representing the couples in the case she ultimately lost.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has objected to a motion from lawyers attempting be compensated after representing gay couples seeking to have their marriages recognized in Florida, only to have Bondi continue to appeal higher and higher up the legal system, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

According to Bondi, Florida voluntarily dismissed its last appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land, and therefore the state shouldn’t have to pay for the lengthy appeals process it put litigants through.

“It’s ludicrous,” said Elizabeth White, a Jacksonville attorney who represented one of the couples who 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.’ ” Attorneys who worked to defeat the marriage ban said they have not come up with the exact amount they are owed, but an estimate of $500,000 was suggested.

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