Voting Booth, Source: TFP File Photo Lawyers representing Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd are challenging a nearly $3.2 million request for a
Lawyers representing Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd are challenging a nearly $3.2 million request for attorney fees and costs from voting-rights groups that contested a 2021 elections law. In a recent filing, the state’s lawyers argued that the groups are seeking an exorbitant amount of money despite losing the majority of their challenges to the controversial legislation.
“To be clear, if plaintiffs are to receive fees, it should only be for a nominal amount — a few thousand dollars,” state lawyers wrote in the document filed in federal court last week.
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The groups have asked Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to award them $2,966,925 in attorney fees and $217,223 in expenses and costs, stemming from their legal battle against Senate Bill 90 (SB 90).
The lawsuit was centered around the 2021 law, which imposed new restrictions on mail-in voting and voter registration groups and included a ban on giving snacks and drinks to voters waiting in line. In 2022, Judge Walker ruled that the law was intended to discriminate against Black voters, but key parts of his decision were later overturned by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The voting rights groups, however, succeeded in challenging parts of the law. The appeals court found that a prohibition on people “engaging in any activity with the . . . effect of influencing a voter” outside polling places was unconstitutionally vague. The plaintiffs argued that this provision would have prevented people from offering food or water to voters in line.
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In May, Judge Walker determined that the voting rights groups were “prevailing parties” in the portions of the law they successfully challenged, making them eligible to recover attorney fees and legal costs. But Florida’s legal team has described the lawsuit’s outcome as a “rout” and insists that the plaintiffs are not entitled to the requested amount.
“Their attorneys’ rates and hours are unreasonably high and don’t justify their extremely limited (and purported) success,” the state’s filing stated.
As the dispute over attorney fees continues, it remains to be seen how Judge Walker will respond to the arguments put forward by both sides.
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