A federal judge has approved over $960,000 in legal fees for lawyers who represented American Indians who successfully challenged Fremont County's system of at-large voting for county commissioners.

U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson of Cheyenne on Friday granted the bulk of the request for fees from the legal team that represented five members of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. Their litigation changed the structure of Fremont County government.

Johnson wrote in his decision that the purpose of this litigation was to seek justice for people who have historically been marginalized and whose voting rights had been diminished. He overrode objections from Fremont County that fees were too high.

 

 

 

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