TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida taxpayers are going to pay nearly $500,000 for the state's losing battle to keep intact a voter-approved ban on gay marriage.
State officials have now reached settlements with two separate groups of attorneys representing same-sex couples that challenged the state's ban. Attorney General Pam Bondi's office reached a final settlement on Wednesday that brought the total to $493,000.
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 postponed implementing the 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.
