Ottawa County paid to settle lawsuit over immigrants getting marriage licenses
mlive.com
June 26, 2010
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapi..._settle_l.html
OTTAWA COUNTY -- The county paid $13,350 to settle a recent federal lawsuit over a former county policy that required people to give Social Security numbers to get a marriage license.
Attorneys for the Los Angeles-based Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund were paid the settlement money, said Douglas VanEssen, an attorney for Ottawa County.
VanEssen believed the settlement was fair, on the belief that lawyers for the Latino civil rights group probably spent more than that to research the issue and file a federal class action lawsuit.
The $13,350 includes legal fees expended by the plaintiff's lawyers.
"It's hard to do anything for $13,000 in a constitutional case," VanEssen said.
The county did not want to fight the lawsuit, VanEssen said, because a state Attorney General's office opinion was contrary to the county's policy.
The civil rights group also has a pending lawsuit against the Kent County clerk for the same issue. There, those applying for a marriage license without a Social Security number must sign an affidavit stating they do not have a number because of a legal or religious exemption.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, is pursuing legislation to stop illegal immigrants from getting a marriage license.
Ottawa County, after the lawsuit, changed its policy to allow applicants to check boxes for exemptions, such as religious and legal reasons and being a foreign student.