Antigay Fla. AG Won't Pay for Costly Marriage Battle

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi appealed every decision that overruled her state's ban on same-sex marriage, eventually giving up when the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality nationwide in June. Florida should now be on the hook for lawyers' fees incurred by the same-sex couples in the state, civil rights attorneys argue, but Bondi is refusing to pay.

The amount owed could be around $500,000, according to an estimate reported by the Tampa Bay Times.

Bondi wrote last week that lawyers defending the gay couples "are not entitled to appellate attorney's fees." The attorney general doesn't want Florida taxpayers to foot the bill, but many say Bondi should have known she was fighting a losing battle and not proceeded with the appeals process.

"Quite frankly, the state vigorously litigated this," Jacksonville civil rights attorney Elizabeth White told the Times. "Now they're saying, 'We lost, but we don't want to pay.' "