Lawyers In Gay Marriage Case Get $1.9 Million From Michigan
By ED WHITE
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) - The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $1.9 million to the lawyers who won the landmark gay marriage case at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Under federal law, there's no dispute that taxpayers were on the hook. Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer challenged Michigan's ban on gay marriage and restrictions on joint adoption.
Attorney General Bill Schuette vigorously defended the gay marriage ban, which was struck down as unconstitutional.
Carole Stanyar says the state "basically paid the amount" requested by the team of lawyers. The litigation lasted more than three years. Stanyar even sold her home in Plymouth.
Taxpayers also paid $96,000 to John Bursch, a lawyer hired by Schuette to defend the gay marriage ban. Conservative economists and social scientists hired by the state for the 2014 trial were paid $148,000.
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