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December 7, 2006

ACLU in line for big pay day in training-school suit

PROVIDENCE — A federal judge says the American Civil Liberties Union may receive court-awarded legal fees when it prevails in U.S. District Court. The decision overturns a 2002 state Supreme Court opinion that barred lawyers from sharing legal fees with the ACLU.

The ruling, by Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux, means the ACLU’s National Prison Project can receive $201,578 in legal fees for representing juvenile inmates in legal action over conditions at the Rhode Island Training School, ACLU officials said today.

And it means that in the future the local ACLU will not lose a major source of money for the lawsuits it files over issues of discrimination, open government, free speech, free press and freedom of religion, officials said.

“It’s a very welcome decision,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU’s Rhode Island Affiliate.

Brown said the ACLU files many of its lawsuits in federal court. But he said the group is still barred from sharing in legal fees awarded in state courts because of the Supreme Court ruling.

Posted by Peter Phipps  at 4:40 PM | Permalink

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