Challenge of gay marriage ruling was futile

The decision by Gov. Nikki Haley and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson to launch a futile challenge to a federal appeals court ruling on gay marriage turned out to be costly for state taxpayers. And that came as no surprise to the many legal experts who had advised against the challenge.

A little over a year ago, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban on gay marriage in Virginia was unconstitutional. Both South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as West Virginia and Maryland, also are in the 4th District, so that ruling applied to those states, too.

Soon after the ruling, four of those states announced they would stop defending challenges to the state’s gay-marriage ban. But Haley and Wilson took the opposite tack, pledging to fight on for South Carolina’s ban.

A variety of legal experts said at the time that continuing the fight would be a waste of the state’s time and money. They said the effort was doomed to fail, and they were right.

In October the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the 4th Circuit ruling to stand. Then, in late June, the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 ruling that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

And last week the bill came due for South Carolina. A federal judge ordered Wilson to pay $130,600 in legal fees for a couple who challenged the state’s gay-marriage ban. Judge Richard Gergel also awarded them the full $4,700 they sought in other court costs and fees.

The bill covers 390 hours of work by seven attorneys on behalf of the couple. The seven attorneys’ hourly rates ranged from $175 to $400.

This, of course, does not account for the time and money Wilson and his office spent on the challenge – resources that could have been used for something worthwhile.

Some might say that $131,700 is a drop in the bucket in a $25 billion state budget. But it could have paid the yearly salary of a state employee or two.

What is more irksome is that the state’s case was hopeless from the start. Wilson was under no obligation to carry the challenge forward. He could have dropped it, as his North Carolina counterpart, Attorney General Roy Cooper, did.

By all appearances, the appeal was little more than an effort to appease opponents of gay marriage in the state. It was a political decision, not a practical one, and taxpayers had to pay for the charade.

It also demonstrated that both Wilson and Haley were determined to swim against the tide of changing public opinion. While their no-surrender stance might have resonated with a segment of voters, it was an unnecessary and expensive gesture.

For politicians who claim to be careful stewards of the state’s resources, this was money down the drain.

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Challenge of gay marriage ruling was futile."