Louisiana ordered to pay $154K over law that blocked foreign-born citizen from marrying

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the state of Louisiana to pay more than $150,000 in fees and costs to attorneys for a man who successfully challenged a law that prevented him and other foreign-born U.S. citizens from getting married.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle's order Wednesday comes more than six months after he permanently blocked the marriage law.

Lawyers who represented Lafayette resident Viet Anh Vo had asked for nearly $213,000 in fees and more than $11,267 in costs. Lemelle awarded them $144,614 in fees and $10,140 in costs.

The Indonesia-born Vo sued in 2016 after he and his U.S.-born fiancee had their application for a marriage license rejected by court clerks in three parishes. The law blocked Vo from getting a license because he couldn't produce a birth certificate.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/courts/article_d1763a9a-175f-11e8-be85-9bca18567a4e.html