DOVER, Pa., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was released
by the legal team representing the plaintiffs in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area
School District following the Dover District School Board's 8-0 vote at
tonight's regularly scheduled meeting to pay them a total of $1 million in
legal fees and expenses.
The three legal organizations that represented the plaintiffs in
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District -- Pepper Hamilton LLP, ACLU of
Pennsylvania, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State -- have
agreed to reduce by more than $1 million the attorneys' fees and expenses that
they are entitled to recover for their successful representation of the
plaintiffs.
The civil-rights laws of the United States permit plaintiffs' attorneys to
recover their attorneys' fees when they win cases for individuals whose
constitutional rights have been violated. The law is designed to provide a way
for people to secure legal assistance to vindicate their rights. It is also
designed to deter public officials from committing civil-rights violations.
In this case, the parties have agreed that Judge Jones will enter an order
awarding plaintiffs' attorneys more than $2 million in fees and expenses. This
award reflects the amount of legal work required to vindicate plaintiffs'
constitutional rights and protect their religious freedom in this important
and complicated federal lawsuit. Plaintiffs' attorneys have agreed, however,
to accept $1 million in full satisfaction of that award. They have made this
compromise because the people of Dover have now voted to remove the
school-board members who supported the unconstitutional intelligent-design
policy, and the new board, which is committed to acting lawfully, has many
other uses for this small school district's financial resources.
Of the $1 million that will be paid, each legal organization will be
reimbursed for its out-of-pocket expenses, and the remaining legal fees will
be split between the ACLU and Americans United, which rely on awards of
attorneys' fees in litigation to carry out their important work. Plaintiffs
and their attorneys hope that this compromise on attorneys' fees will bring
some measure of healing and reconciliation to the Dover community.
Statement issue February 21, 2006
SOURCE Pepper Hamilton LLP
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CONTACT:
Susan Anthony of Sawmill Public Relations,
+1-410-592-3003, +1-410-592-7683 cell, for Pepper Hamilton LLP
NOTE TO EDITORS: The following are available for interviews:
Eric Rothschild, Partner, Pepper Hamilton, LLP at 215-981-4813;
Vic Walczak, Legal Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania; Richard
Katskee, Assistant Legal Director, Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, 202-466-3234, ext. 210; Joe Conn,
Director of Communications, Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, 202-466-3234, ext. 218.
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