1070 defense in July cost more than $621,000

Rhonda Bodfield Arizona Daily Star
October 27, 2010 3:57 pm

Lawyers defending the state’s controversial new immigration law racked up more than $621,000 in legal fees in July.

Gov. Jan Brewer established a special defense fund through an executive order which allowied her to accept private donations to pay the legal costs in fighting challenges to SB 1070.

Brewer, who has received more than $3.6 million in contributions to the fund from more than 42,000 people, said the cost of defending the lawsuit has been high in part because there have been nearly 1,200 legal filings. Brewer has filed motions to dismiss in all eight federal lawsuits, which have so far featured 251 attorneys. Her office also noted the expedited nature of the court proceedings — including a hearing Monday in San Francisco before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — resulted in extra hours for counsel in a compressed amount of time.

Pima County Democratic Chairman Jeff Rogers said despite all that money, the state has largely lost most of its key arguments to date and noted Monday’s hearing is just whether the injunction will remain in place. “Fortunately, it’s not taxpayer money yet, but at the rate they’re billing, sooner or later it will be. You have to wonder how much it’s going to cost for the full-blown trial and the appeals,â€