Texas is on the hook for more than $600,000 in fees associated with its unsuccessful fight to defend the state鈥檚 ban on same-sex marriage.
Affirming a lower court ruling on the fees, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals this week shot down Texas Attorney General 鈥檚 challenge to the award amount granted to two same-sex couples who had sued the state.
A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit ruled that the district court "acted will within its broad discretion" in awarding those legal fees.
The fees stem from a lawsuit filed years ago by Cleopatra DeLeon and her wife, Nicole Dimetman, and Mark Phariss and his husband, Victor Holmes, who challenged the constitutionality of the state鈥檚 now-defunct same-sex marriage ban.
The couples were successful at the district court level, where a San Antonio federal judge ruled the state's ban was unconstitutional because it 鈥渧iolates plaintiffs鈥� equal protection and due process rights.鈥�
Anticipating an appeal, that ruling was stayed and the the ban was left in place. The lawsuit eventually made its way to the 5th Circuit, where a three-judge panel in early 2015 about the constitutionality of Texas' ban.
But the state that summer after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 ruled that same-sex marriage is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
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