WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted Liberty Counsel an increase in the amount of attorney’s fees and costs for its April 2023 victory over the unconstitutional counseling ordinances in the City of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County that banned counseling to overcome unwanted same sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion. The ruling awards slightly more than $885,000 in fees and expenses, an increase of nearly $150,000 from a lower court judgment.
In Otto, et al v. City of Boca Raton, FL et al, Liberty Counsel represented Dr. Robert Otto, LMFT and Dr. Julie Hamilton, LMFT, and their minor clients who challenged and prevailed over the Boca Raton’s and Palm Beach County’s unconstitutional counseling ban ordinances. These now defunct ordinances had banned these counselors from helping their minor clients with life-saving counseling to deal with unwanted same sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion. The Eleventh Circuit struck down these ordinances, finding they were both content and viewpoint based and violated the First Amendment right to free speech.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Liberty Counsel has been litigating this case since June 2018. As a result of the victories over these unlawful counseling bans, minors who are struggling with gender confusion can get the help they need. Counselors and clients should have the freedom to choose the counsel of their choice and be free of government censorship. Enacting these unconstitutional bans was a costly decision by Boca Raton and Palm Beach County.”
Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
