TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida is going to pay at least $213,000 for its losing battle to keep intact a voter-approved ban on gay marriage.
State officials have agreed to pay that much to the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida to cover attorney fees and other costs. Attorney General Pam Bondi's office is also actively negotiating to reach a settlement with another group of attorneys also involved in the case.
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ordered the state to pay the fees of attorneys who filed federal lawsuits challenging the ban.
Hinkle ruled the ban unconstitutional in August 2014, but he stayed the effect of that ruling pending appeals that were further along in other federal courts. Same-sex couples started getting married throughout the state in January 2015, six months before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the country.
