Plaintiffs want Hazleton to pay $2.4M bill

The attorneys who successfully challenged Hazleton’s illegal immigration ordinance in federal court want the city to pay their legal fees and costs totaling close to $2.4 million.
A 28-page petition filed in federal court Friday blames the city for driving up the fees for the attorneys pursuing the case, who represented several of Hazleton’s Hispanic residents, landlords and community groups.[...]

“Hazleton has used this Court as its laboratory,” the fee petition reads. “Defendant’s experimentation over the past year comes at a price.”

[Read more at Citizen's Voice.com report from 8/31/2007]

While Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta called the amount “absurd”, ACLU Attorney Witold “Vic” Walczak said it was $500,000 less than they could have petitioned for because they didn’t include any of the time lawyers spent in the courtroom. The attorneys for the plaintiffs contend that the multiple changes to the ordinance that Hazleton made throughout the trial in attempts to win their case drove up the costs.

The story continues in today’s edition of CitizensVoice.com.

Follow this link to read the 28-page document.