State officials paid $1.5 million in compensation for legal fees and costs incurred by plaintiffs in the Whitewood case, it was disclosed this week.
Witold “Vic” Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, confirmed the payment in a Feb. 4 email. Walczak said state officials made the payment, drawn from public taxpayer dollars, in December. The Whitewood case established marriage equality in Pennsylvania last spring.
According to federal law, the prevailing party in a civil-rights lawsuit is entitled to compensation for its reasonable legal fees and costs.
As the prevailing party, Whitewood plaintiffs initially requested about $2.2 million in compensation for their legal fees and costs.
But state officials said the plaintiffs requested an “exorbitant amount.”
This week, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones 3d formally closed the Whitewood case, noting that the fee-compensation dispute has been resolved.
A breakdown of the specific amount of money paid to each Whitewood attorney wasn’t available.
“There is no document publicly available that provided a breakdown [of the legal fees],” Walczak said. “That is an internal matter.”
Jeff Sheridan, press secretary for Gov. Tom Wolf issued the following statement: “Gov. Wolf is pleased that this is now resolved and that the Commonwealth has reached a fair agreement with the plaintiffs. Gov. Wolf commends the plaintiffs for their bravery in pursuing this landmark case.”