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Idaho officials waste millions of taxpayer dollars by passing unconstitutional laws
Idaho Statesman via Yahoo NewsOn June 8, the U.S. District Court for Idaho ordered the state to — yet again — pay over $320,000 in attorneys’ fee to plaintiffs after it unsuccessfully defended an Idaho law prohibiting individuals from changing the gender markers on their birth certificates.
I was a member of the legal team that successfully challenged that anti-transgender birth certificate law. I am also a native, tax-paying Idahoan.
I am incredibly proud of the result my team achieved for our clients and all those affected by the law. I am also proud of the fees we were awarded, which will help my colleagues at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund continue fighting for the rights of LGBTQ individuals. But I am also disheartened to know my family and my neighbors will be the ones to — yet again — pick up the tab for the state’s poor legal decisions.
This is not the first time the state has been ordered to pay a plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees after defending an unconstitutional law.
In 2021, Idaho paid $150,000 in legal fees after the Idaho Supreme Court deemed the state’s ballot initiative unconstitutional.
In 2015, Idaho paid nearly $1 million in attorneys’ fees and interests after defending and losing cases over same-sex marriage, abortion and free speech.
These fees come out of Idaho’s “Constitutional Defense Fund,” which is funded by taxpayer money and which has reportedly paid over $3 million in attorneys’ fees to opponents who successfully challenged Idaho’s unconstitutional laws since it was established in 1995.
I was a member of the legal team that successfully challenged that anti-transgender birth certificate law. I am also a native, tax-paying Idahoan.
I am incredibly proud of the result my team achieved for our clients and all those affected by the law. I am also proud of the fees we were awarded, which will help my colleagues at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund continue fighting for the rights of LGBTQ individuals. But I am also disheartened to know my family and my neighbors will be the ones to — yet again — pick up the tab for the state’s poor legal decisions.
This is not the first time the state has been ordered to pay a plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees after defending an unconstitutional law.
In 2021, Idaho paid $150,000 in legal fees after the Idaho Supreme Court deemed the state’s ballot initiative unconstitutional.
In 2015, Idaho paid nearly $1 million in attorneys’ fees and interests after defending and losing cases over same-sex marriage, abortion and free speech.
These fees come out of Idaho’s “Constitutional Defense Fund,” which is funded by taxpayer money and which has reportedly paid over $3 million in attorneys’ fees to opponents who successfully challenged Idaho’s unconstitutional laws since it was established in 1995.
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