Alaska spends $100K defending gay marriage lawsuit

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The state has spent more than $103,000 to defend a lawsuit that overturned Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The Alaska Dispatch News reports plaintiffs are seeking nearly $259,000 in legal fees from the state. If those fees are awarded, the cost to the state would total more than $360,000.

Included in the cost is $9,600 to Washington, D.C., attorney S. Kyle Duncan, who worked with the state to appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A federal judge in October ruled the ban violates the U.S. constitutional guarantee of due process and equal protection.

After the appeals court lifted a temporary stay and the Supreme Court denied a review of the case, the state has asked federal appeals court panel for a review.