(LEX 18) — The ACLU announced Friday that a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling awarding $224,000 in attorney’s fees and costs in the case of couples who were refused marriage licenses by former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis.
The panel and lower court agreed that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is responsible for paying the award.
“The Court of Appeals correctly found that April Miller and the other ACLU clients prevailed by forcing the former Clerk to abandon her unlawful policy of withholding marriage licenses from the public,” said William E. Sharp, cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky. “By affirming the sizable fee award, the Court also sent a strong message to other government officials in Kentucky that it is not only unconstitutional to use public office to impose one’s personal religious views on others, but that it also can be a very expensive mistake.”
“Kim Davis was an outlier who has been replaced by Kentucky voters. Today’s decision brings another form of vindication for the Rowan County couples who continued the good fight long after marriage equality became the law of the land,” said Ria Tabacco Mar, senior staff attorney for the ACLU.
The ACLU announced that both Rowan County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky has appealed the ruling.
